TRANSCRIPT
*Transcripts are auto-generated and reviewed for accuracy, but there may be some errors in punctuation or words. Listen to the podcast at https://rabbidaniellapin.libsyn.com/ for clarification
The Rabbi Daniel Lapin Podcast
Episode: 5 Permanent Principles of the Bible for Your Peace and Prosperity
Date: 05/12/23 Length: 1:06:12
Daniel Lapin 0:00
Welcome you happy warriors and welcome to the rabbi Daniel Lapin show where your rabbi reveals how the world really works. Yes, each and every one of you happy warriors, you, you, and you is a welcome part of our community of happy warriors. Do I say happy? Yeah, well, because that's because you are someone who has come to understand that happiness is not a reaction. It is a decision. You don't need outside factors to make you happy. You have decided that your default condition for happiness and success is a reasoned, determined, deliberate decision to be happy. And you're also a warrior. Because you understand that joyful success in life comes from struggling against the natural resistance, that in the nature of the world tends to obstruct and resist every step you make, in the direction of self-improvement. I call this negative force spiritual gravity. You try to get airborne, and it tries to keep you Earthbound. In every effort you make to improve any one or all of your five F's. It throws up obstacles and temptations. But as a happy warrior, you know that every single victory you win, no matter how small brings other victories in its wake. And so that's why we are not just warriors, and not just happy-go-lucky is that we are happy warriors. And one of the things that happy warriors realize is that our ability to progress, our success and our happiness depends upon our ability to impose our own limits on our own freedom. That's right. If you want to make progress on your five F's, you've got to be able to limit and control yourself. It's called self-regulation. Being able to step off the slippery slide, that seductive ride of freedom, and impose it upon ourselves restraints and restrictions and regulation. That is the direction in which happiness and success lie. Because so many people confuse license with freedom. licentiousness is doing whatever your feelings drag you towards. Freedom is what you have when you are capable of imposing limits and restraints upon your feelings and emotions. And why that is so particularly important is when you are being carried along by an avalanche of emotions. Coming to trust our emotions is a very dangerous thing. And a happy warrior realizes that emotions are wonderful, we should all have emotions, and we should feel wonderful emotions, we should feel emotions like love and appreciation, gratitude, and happiness. We should not indulge in emotions like anger and jealousy. Emotions are real. But we do not regulate our lives on the basis of our emotions. We impose limits and restraints and controls and restrictions, rather than just acting in our emotions, and doing whatever we feel. That is the single most important rule for a happy and a successful life. Now, some of you may be relatively new to the show.
Daniel Lapin 3:49
And when I refer as I do repeatedly to the five F's, you may possibly not be quite sure what F's I'm referring to? And the answer is that you need to visit my website. Make a note of it right now or or put it on your list. It's called WeHappyWarriors.com. That's right. We Happy Warriors. And the the website WeHappyWarriors.com enables you to do two things. Well, first of all, it lets you find that the five F's are the five fundamental aspects of your life that need to be in good shape for happiness and success. And those are your physical fitness, your finances, your family, your friendships and your faith. That's right. Those are the five F's, Faith family, friendships, fitness and finance. And if you go to the website, WeHappyWarriors.com You will see how they integrate together. Something else you can do is make sure you have downloaded a free ebook called The Holistic You, how to integrate the five critical areas of your life for success and happiness. And that's a free ebook download right there, WeHappyWarriors.com. And above all, I asked you to join our community of happy warriors. And you can do that right there at WeHappyWarriors.com and become part of the people part of the group part of the community, all of us happy warriors that are working on overcoming the natural resistance that obstructs our progress towards improving our lives. We're all working on this, we're all having the same challenges and the same problems. And there is strength in numbers, the website again, WeHappyWarriors.com. And we do look forward to welcoming you to our community.
Daniel Lapin 6:03
Now, I I want to show you how the application of these five F's is not only to our own lives, but also on a larger scale to the community of people. And I'll, I'll explain to you what I mean. I want to show you five permanent principles of the Bible and how they apply. Now, there are many listeners to this show who are not Bible enthusiasts. We even have atheist listeners to the show. I welcome all listeners to this show. And, and I welcome the spirit of mental and intellectual openness, that makes it possible for us to explore topics together, that there are fewer and fewer places where these topics can be openly discussed today, five permanent principles of the Bible, one, the first one happens to apply to fitness, the second finance the third to family, the fourth to friendship, and the fifth to faith. One of the things that you will learn at the We happy warriors community, WeHappyWarriors.com Is that the order is irrelevant. These five exist on a circle, you can start anywhere, work on any of them. But these are the five that are needed and the five you need to be working on at the same time. So the first permanent principle of the Bible is that people are not just animals, let me explain. You know, as a Hebrew, I am very aware of the turbulent and trying times that Jews have experienced whether it was being thrown out of England in the year 1290, or thrown out of Spain, where we had lived for hundreds of years in 1492. Whether it is the terrible events in the middle of World War Two in the middle of the 20th century. And let's look at that for a moment. There was a huge Jewish community in a - in really one of the leading cities of the world at that time. In 1935, Warsaw was a glittering, glamorous capital of Europe. Poland was an important country. It had a successful army. And it had, it had had many battles, partially because Poland was on a sort of on a huge plane between Germany and Russia sort of a flat plane. And they really had more than their fair share of wars fought on their territory. But by 1935, Warsaw was I mean, it was like, if you were a world traveler in 1935, you'd visit New York and you'd visit London and you'd visit Paris and you'd visit Warsaw and you'd visit Moscow and St. Petersburg. But Warsaw was was on the list. And not surprisingly, there was a large and prosperous Jewish community in Warsaw. And I must tell you that in my darkest moments, I have nightmarish thoughts about Jews living their ordinary lives going about their business in 1935. I just picked that year, because none of them well, I shouldn't say that. And some I know actually did but very few of them had the faintest idea that life as they knew it was about to come to an end in four years
Daniel Lapin 10:01
Normal life that they were living in luxurious homes would be replaced by unspeakable horror in torture camps, so terrible that death came as a relief. Auschwitz was of course located in Poland. Why did the Nazis build the most notorious death camps in Poland and not back in Germany, partially out of a worry that ordinary Germans would not tolerate it. ordinary Germans, they suspected that ordinary Germans would not put up with death camps in their neighborhoods. But as it turned out, later on, when they built a notorious death camp, just outside Munich, turned out people knew about it and accepted it. And I don't say this to point a finger at the Germans, I am experienced enough in the world as I'm sure you all are, to know that people accept and get used to almost anything. And that if there is government propaganda along the way, it acts expedites, how easily and quickly they accept it. And the way that Americans and Canadians and Australians and all the people you think that venerate freedom, accepted the draconian and really brutal lock downs, utterly unnecessary locked downs of the COVID ears, that should reassure you that no group of people is immune to this human behavior. And so there it was people living there and, and not realizing what was coming down the road. Look, I'm not suggesting that we, in our present time, are looking ahead to confront such severe shocks to our lives in the next few years. But remember, happy warriors recognize that nothing lasts forever. Smart observers recognize that the challenging changes that have swirled so turbulently around the foundations of our world, over just the past, say 10 years even have consequences that will impact the quality of our lives. In an increasingly dramatic fashion down the road.
Daniel Lapin 12:40
We're not prophets, we don't know exactly what's happening. But we certainly should be aware that this is the way of the world, one can ignore the distant sound of approaching boots, and blindly await whatever Cataclysm comes or is expected or is not expected. But one can also make the effort to peer through a periscope and try to spot the approaching threats. It is possible to analyze current events through the lens of ancient Jewish wisdom and emerge with if not a prophetic sense of where things are headed, at least a good idea of what the short term future holds for us. Some people condemned themselves to stumble through the dark forest at night, snagged by branches and tripped by roots. Others wear night vision goggles, and cover the ground easily and safely. I always want to make sure that happy warriors are equipped with night vision goggles. And today I want to do that in the form of five permanent principles of the Bible. And I believe that these will not only help to make sense of the treacherous landscape in which we are all living no matter what country you are listening in. This applies to you. Yes, there is a treacherous landscape. And yes, there are sounds of approaching boots that not everybody can hear. But my goal is to help happy warriors avoid the roots and branches in the dark forest that await the unwary.
Daniel Lapin 14:37
And so whether we are looking at problems, serious problems in the United States of America or Western Europe, or the problems in Russia and Ukraine or the problems having to do with China or problems in Africa, Wherever you look, I want you to know that the picture you obtain as you peer through your parents scope to try and see the road ahead will be much clearer with these five tools. And so, for permanent principle number one, people are not merely smart animals, we are an entirely different species touched by the finger of God and possessing souls. This means that few of the lessons that we learn from animals are applicable to human beings. Okay. And so this is in the category of fitness. Because, you see, it is precisely our bodies that mislead us into thinking that evolutionary biology explains everything there is to explain about us. And a happy warrior knows to be very suspicious, whenever he hears, or she has an explanation, or an interpretation of a human condition that is preceded by the words biology, evolution, or anything like that. Because those depend on the presumption that humans and animals are exactly the same. They just, the differences are slight, and they're in degree. Some animals run faster than humans, some animals like run slower, some animals have more hair than humans, some have less, and so on and so forth. And the truth is, that if you try and understand your life and the life of your community around you, and community means friends and family, and even your society and your nation, if you try and understand human events around you, only from the point of view of evolutionary biology and only from with an eye on the physical and not the spiritual. If you look only at the body and not the soul, you will be making serious mistakes. Because far too many decisions that are made by human beings, both individually and socially, are made on the basis of the soul, not on the basis of the body, made on the basis of spiritual reasons, not on rational, physical reasons. You know, if you think of an animal, restricted to an adequately large area and provided with food and water and safety, it will never endeavor to go anywhere else. People have often been astonished that when a keeper accidentally leaves a door open to a cage or enclosure in a zoo. The animals don't rush to get out. It's almost accidental, they discover the door open and they go out to explore, but they're not seeking their freedom. Whereas a human being who is incarcerated, many many, almost never stopped trying to escape never stopped trying to get out, and should an avenue inadvertently be left open. Many will instantly take advantage of that. Because freedom is part of a human soul, not part of the human body. Animals, if they're provided with their basics are really pretty much comfortable where they are. People however, even if confined to a very large area in which they can obtain all that their heart's desire. They find that their souls chafe at the restrictions, we humans, we seek the infinite. While animals may protect their territories, we humans feel the urge to seize the territories of others. In civilized circumstances, we tried to increase our holdings by purchase and trade and creativity. But in less civilized circumstances, we do so by war and by plunder. Animals act on instinct, and are quite incapable of evil. And they're also incapable of choosing good over evil. People are capable of making moral choices, and in many cases will choose war and plunder. We do not need to prepare ourselves to cope with evil animals. A meer fence will keep the wolves away from our cattle. But my dear happy warriors, we very much need to prepare to deal with evil people, or we shall not survive. Those nations with a strong sense of their biblical roots tend to build up their societies and allow their people to prosper in An environment of safety and security.
Daniel Lapin 20:04
Occasionally straying from these routes as Germany did, when it temporarily turned to Hitler and his Nazi thugs, even Western nations will pursue predatory policies, but they seldom work for very long. You may remember that Hitler constantly spoke about the 1000-year reich. What he was alluding to, of course, was the fact that there had been a German Empire was it was called the Holy Roman Empire. But it was basically where Germany is today, and made up of early Germanic tribes. And that lasted for about 1000 years, in the sense of, of what it was, I mean, wasn't an empire governed from a reliable central authority, like we understand an empire to mean in more recent times, but basically, from about 800 to about 1800. That was what Hitler saw in his own mind. And in his own distorted vision. You saw that as the first right, the first empire. And then much later, from 1871 to 1918, really the end of World War One. Everyone saw that as the sort of second German reich and Hitler did too. And so when he became chancellor democratically, by the way, in case you think democracy is the solution to everything, he became chancellor in January 1933. And he declared the third reich, and he called it the 1000-year reich. Well, it basically made just over 12 years, up till May 1945, which was essentially when Germany was pretty much destroyed by the allies from the West, and Russia, from the east. And so that 1000 year reich didn't even make 15 years. Because it was an abandonment of the permanent principles that make for durable societies. Nations however, you know, that are based on organizational principles. Other than Judeo Christian are nations that deny and withhold deny their people and, and don't let them gain prosperity and security.
Daniel Lapin 22:44
And think of Shaka. Shaka the Zulu. Shaka the Zulu was such an incredible warrior that he even defeated in different battles. The great British Army really the, the British Army during the height of the British Empire, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Zulu warriors, really some of the greatest warriors of the world, defeated the British in several battles, which by the way caused havoc in London because nobody could believe that the Barefoot savages of the African savanna could defeat the great British army but yes, they did. Because they were very powerful people. You know, where a where a British Army regular can march 20 miles a day and not too many days that I mean 20 miles a day for a marches about what a soldier can do. Zulu warriors in their impies, their, their their groupings, their battalions, routinely would do 50 miles a day. So, you know, it's to anyone who, anyone, any African, like me, who knows, the Zulu people was not in the least bit surprised that they were able to do so well against the great British army. But nonetheless, the organizational principles of the Zulu people and the Shaka were pretty horrible. And he actually Shaka, by the way, just to give you a timeframe, I lived from about I don't know about 1860, somewhere there to Uh, excuse me, 1760. To about I'm gonna say 1820 or 1830. It was that period of, While America was in formation in North America, and the British were trying to expand their foothold in Africa. care. Shaka, really let them have it. And one of the things that Shaka notoriously did was to prove the I don't know if it was to prove or to establish or to develop the loyalty of his warriors. He marched an entire band of warriors off a cliff. He basically made them commit suicide, he gave them the audit to march. And they marched and they went off a cliff. And by the way, I know this not from history books. I believe this to be true, because I was told it by a Zulu tribal chieftain, who was a repository of his nation's history, and who was someone I looked up to and respected. During the years I was living in that part of the world. And he told me that this is part of the tradition of the Zulu people, that it really did happen. And several 1000 Zulu warriors were needlessly slaughtered. Because Shawn Shaka, the chief is should be ordered to march forward march off the edge of a cliff. I believe it was in the Drakensberg range of mountains. And I have hiked there and believe me, the cliffs there are very, very serious cliffs. Amazing waterfalls, too. But that's a different, a different discussion.
Daniel Lapin 26:39
Anyways, what's the mirror image of Judeo-Christian thinking? What's the mirror image? In other words, you have nations like most of the western nations that were founded on Judeo-Christian belief systems? What's the mirror image of that? Do you know? Yeah, it's communism, of course. And I speak about that extensively. In the program you'll find on the website, wehappywarriors.com. And it's called Tower of Power: Decoding the Secrets of Babel. That's right. Nine verses in chapter 11 of Genesis tell you all you need to know about the organizing and underlying principles of communism. And so so whether you're talking about Shaka who departed from Judeo-Christian principles in one way, or whether you're speaking about communism, which denies citizens, any opportunity whatsoever of improving their abilities to make a living, while needlessly slaughtering them by the million, which Stalin did in the Soviet Union, and Mao Zedong did in China, and Pol Pot did in Cambodia, all under the organizing principle of communism, and which Shaka Zulu did in southern Africa, in general, people who read who reject the Judeo-Christian model of human organization usually end up embracing its opposite, which is a materialistic vision of reality. And in this vision, people are not united by the content of their characters, and the devotion of their souls, because people are merely just smart animals. And just as animals are divided by shape, and skin color, so are people this mistaken model insists that there must be fights between men and women where we're at, we're at where we're at strife between with one another, there has to be strife between black and white, and there has to be strife between rich and poor. This is an age-old false vision of humanity which is kept alive by socialism, or progressivism, or communism, or the same thing, whatever word you want to use. Yes, it is all the same thing and defeated only by its opposite, which is Judeo-Christian beliefs. There are those who still mistakenly long for a secular alternative. We don't want to go the route of communism or socialism or progressivism, yes, all the same thing. But we also don't want anything to do with religion or the Bible or God. We just want a benign democracy, of secular good laws and good loving and good capitalism. And many people in America's Republican Party. Not all Fortunately, there are some very good people but many people in America's Republican Party like the late John McCain and many, many others really are still in involved and devoted to this to this futile dream that there is a lovely, wonderful alternative to communism on the other on the one side and a Judeo-Christian principled Republic on the other. And that somehow we'll find the way there's a third way and this is just a benign secular democracy. Yeah, right. Show it to me. Short while, yeah, short while but not for long.
Daniel Lapin 30:38
And America's discovering that tragically right now. So that is, we've got to understand is exactly when I say it's happening right now, by the way, notice, the union labor unions in the United States of America are treated as if they are a sacred priestly class automatically cloaked with virtue, right? Teachers, unions, whatever unions at all, it's a reliable fact. If you reject the Judeo-Christian model, and you seek that benign, secular, capitalistic democracy, what you end up with is what America is experiencing right now. And it's astonishing to me. The the devotion, which administrations pay to the labor unions, yes, I understand they bring money and votes. But look what else they do. Yeah. Okay. So permanent principle number one was about our bodies, because our bodies can fool us into thinking that we are just like animals. And so permanent principle number one was that people are not merely smart animals, we are in an entirely different species touched by the finger of God, we possess souls. And above all, you got to know that lessons learned from animals are not applicable to people.
Daniel Lapin 32:09
Permanent principle of Bible number two, this one has to do with finance, I told you we'd looking at the 5x. Right, so we looked at fitness the body, we're now looking at finance, here's permanent principle of the Bible. Number two, there are two basic obstacles to any individual's physical survival. Hear what I just said, there are two basic obstacles to your physical survival. What are they? Number one, extracting a living from an often reluctant Earth, using as little about time and energy as possible. That's what's necessary. Number two, preventing other stronger individuals or groups from attacking us and seizing our property, and possibly also taking our lives. There are two basic obstacles to our physical survival. Number one is we've got to make a living. Number two, we've got to prevent other people stronger individuals or groups, from taking our property and possibly our lives. Now, the Judeo Christian biblical blueprint confers success upon its followers by solving these two problems. Firstly, it affirms the worthiness of work. See, I told you, we're talking about finance. And the idea that we were placed into this garden of Eden, precisely in order to work it and become God's partners in creation. How by transforming jungle into cities, and fettered swamps, into fertile fields. That's what we're supposed to be doing. And when that becomes part of our religious obligation, that becomes part of our structure, then obviously, as a society, we do better than societies that don't have that built into their belief system. Having given us this idea that God wants us to succeed, the Judeo-Christian biblical model, then implants in us the idea that God does not allow us as individuals or groups to take the property or lives of others. It even tells us of how borrowing is a bad idea from future generations. It inculcates in us, a respect for women and the goodness of protecting and cherishing women. Finally, it teaches the importance of specialization, to produce God's desire of interdependence upon one another. And I speak about that in my financial prosperity collection. You'll see that also at wehappywarriors.com Not surprisingly, those cultures that founded themselves by following these Judeo-Christian biblical precepts prospered in peace, prosperity, and tranquility. Well, I guess peace and tranquility are a really the same thing. So I could just say, Peace and prosperity. As time went by, however, you got to remember that many blessed Western countries first forgot and then abandoned, the very blueprint that brought them to affluence that biblical blueprint. Environmentalism, with its pantheistic doctrines and worship of nature is one destructive aspect of the loss of biblical vision. We are now watching the economic consequences of that rash, rejection of the founding biblical principles of many countries around the world today.
Daniel Lapin 36:00
Public permanent principle of the Bible number three, this one has to do with family. Here it is you ready permanent principle of the Bible number three. So we looked at fitness, we looked at finance, we're not looking at family in isolation, individuals live short and painful lives only by organizing ourselves into families, communities, societies, and yes, eventually nations, do we stand a chance of solving the two basic problems of survival that I alluded to in permanent principle number two.
Daniel Lapin 36:40
Okay, that's a really important thing. And, and something that we've got to we've got to get clear. Imagine if you were the last person alive on the planet, right after some unimaginable catastrophe wiped out everyone else. So your first sensation would be relief, at being able to just, you know, just do what you want without anybody nagging you. And you could find a parking place wherever you wanted. But you'd soon discover the problem. There's no electricity, because there's nobody operating the power plants. There's no television or radio programming, there's no internet, there's no restaurants. And eventually, there's not even any more food in the now empty markets, pretty soon for transport. As you go out to search for food, you'd be reduced to writing whatever horse you could find. And you'd be living like a subsistence peasant, in the most poverty stricken and primitive third world neighborhood. Eventually, you're going to have to plan something, and hope to god it'll grow to a harvest before you starve to death. See, our wealth is other people. It's not that other people mean you have less. All you have is only because you are living and connected with other people. It's only because we subscribe to a common system of values with other people. And that allows us to communicate and cooperate and above all trust one another. You know, 60 years ago, Ghana and South Korea had the same sized economy, as I've told you before, what changed? What changed is that in Ghana, the circle of trust was relatively small, and it took a long time to grow. It was basically restricted to family and tribe. But in South Korea, South Korea became more and more Christian, the circle of of trust grew and grew to the point where you were able to do transactions with people you didn't know. And that was what built up America. You understand that? If someone was able to destroy the common system of values that unifies the citizens of, shall we say, the United States of America, which is exactly what allows us to communicate and cooperate and above all trust one another. If somebody could destroy that, will wait. Somebody is doing exactly that? Of course. That's right. That's exactly what's happening in the United States of America. This common system of values is being obliterated. And so everything that flows from that will eventually fail. Look there for alternatives in human organization. Right. I think, without too much thought. Everybody agrees that a human living alone doesn't survive for long. So one possibility is just leave everything alone and live with chaos and civic anarchy. Right now. Another way is centralized planning bias by a tyrannical regime, whether that is in, in Moscow or in Beijing, or in Washington, DC, but, but the idea of a centralized authority, a huge and growing centralized bureaucracy, controlling and planning everything that obviously quickly becomes tyrannical. And it's what I call the second of the choices. If you decide you don't want to live in civic anarchy and chaos. Well, that's one possibility. A third possibility is tribal. We just live with our extended family and we trust nobody else. Number four, the Judeo-Christian system of ancient Israel that created Western civilization in general, and the United States in particular, the first idea of just leaving everyone alone and living in chaos and anarchy, it's unendurable, and the plight of those trapped in this environment is tragic. As for centralized planning, you really, I mean, wouldn't you think that the 20th century destroyed faith forever in this hopeless model, but yet it lingers with almost religious fervor among America's elite university faculties, and Europe's secular fundamentalists. It's hilarious, but tragic. The tribal model has demonstrated an inability to innovate even a bicycle factory, let alone a chip fabrication plant. tribal societies seem often incapable of even seeing the benefits of waterborne sewage systems. Finally, the fourth system of human organization God's plan for human interaction, it speaks for itself, with all the imperfections in evitable, when mere humans tried to implement a perfect system, you know, it was often said that the Royal Navy was a system designed by geniuses to be used by idiots. Look, there's going to be imperfection. When humans implement a system, even if the system is perfect, as the Judeo-Christian bible-based system is. The fact is, that's the results of that they sometimes don't like the process that brings it about. But the results of that Judeo-Christian bible-based civilization still seems to remain the desire of most human beings. Yes, most. And it's what they seek is what they vote for, with their feet by immigration. And even by politics, they try to attain the at least the benefits. In other words, people look at America and say, you know, this is a democracy and people try to emulate it. But it doesn't always work. In fact, it seldom works because what brought America its tranquility and its prosperity was not a benign secular, capitalistic democracy. So that was principle number three, that that we can't live alone, we've got to be organized. The only choice is how we're going to organize ourselves. How are we going to live for us happy warriors, permanent principle of the Bible. Number three means make sure that you have friends and make sure you have family build a family.
Daniel Lapin 43:42
Let's look at permanent principle of the Bible, number four, this one has to do with friendship. God created separate nations in the world instead of making all humans part of one big group. And you will find at the website wehappywarriors.com, you will find a two-hour video resource of fantastic called The Gathering Storm: Decoding the Secrets of Noah. And therein you will learn a lot about this principle number four, that God did create separate nations of the world didn't make all humans part of one big group. Remember, I asked you what is the opposite of the Judeo-Christian bible-based vision? And the answer progressivism, socialism, communism, yes, they're all the same thing. And the what what is one of the dreams? Have you ever noticed the almost childlike belief that progressives have in the United Nations? And yet when you think about it, the United Nations is achieved very little. In reality, there's never been a war that stopped. And there's never been a ward prevented. So, but the idea of a world government the idea Have we're all human beings, the old John Lennon song Imagine, this is the dream of progressivism, socialism slash communism, which is exactly the opposite of permanent principle of the Bible. Number four, which is God created separate nations in the world, he did not make all humans part of one huge group. As a matter of fact, several chapters of Genesis are devoted to showing how God's plan was for each nation to experiment with its own ideas of how human cooperation should best be structured. And Israel was presented with the biblical blueprint, and with the mission to share it with the world, which you did through Christianity.
Daniel Lapin 45:45
If you're interested in the biblical aspect of it, by the way, go to Genesis chapter 10, verse five of these were the islands of the nations divided in their lands, everyone after his language of his families, and after their nations. In other words, islands, not literally islands, but the word is used in the text, the Hebrew word is [Hebrew spoken] in the islands of the nations. And what that means is, every nation should develop in its own cultural Island, and it should find out what works best for it. And along the way, come along and knock at the door of the Judeo-Christian tradition, knock at the door of a Christian source, in order to discover the way to organize human beings, right to do that, not as chaos and anarchy, not through centralized planning and a tyrannical regime, not tribally, but through a Judeo-Christian system. And so look, the other faiths we're talking about how should I put this let's let's look at the Soviet Union, for instance, right, which until it collapsed in '91, the cause they had been making the pro betters the gods pro betters the Volga as the zeal. These were roundly rejected by Western car buyers. They were mediocre, mechanical monstrosities. So that's what I call them, that mediocre mechanical monstrosities. And the only reason they were using the Soviet Union is because that's all there was. If you bought a car, you bought a Soviet product at the point of a sword as it were. But the Judeo-Christian model doesn't work at the point of a sword, right? The Crusades were not terribly successful. By and large, the Judeo-Christian model, unlike Islam, for instance, which spread as rapidly as it did, primarily because it gave people the choice, convert to Islam, embrace it or die. That's not how the Judeo-Christian model works, the way it works is by showing such an enviable lifestyle, and demonstrating such a desirable society, that everybody wants to be part of it. The problem is that everybody wants to be part of the benefits. And very few people want to put in the hard work that builds it, and creates it and makes it possible in the first place. And so, everything in the opposite system of socialism, communism, progressivism, has to be by force. Right? free speech, free speech is a Judeo-Christian bible model, we should be able to talk. But as soon as a centralized regime takes control, whether it's in China or the old Soviet Union, or in Washington, DC, there is no more free speech. Political correctness, you'll say certain things your careers destroyed. Because forcing people into line is part of the system of centralized tyrannical control. It is not the part of the vision of the social model of Judeo-Christian thinking. And so, God set up a system, as I said, Genesis chapter 10, verse five, the islands of the nations, where different people in their own groups could experiment as much as they wanted. Meanwhile, Israel and all those who adopted the biblical blueprint would build such vastly superior societies, that others would eventually flock to adopt the same system of organizing principles. Let competition of ideologies flourish, and let people choose the right way. That was God's design.
Daniel Lapin 50:01
As the United States today is, is really imperiled by increasing numbers of citizens who regard themselves as citizens of the world. And this is particularly in large, high tech companies that don't see themselves as citizens of the United States of America, on university campuses. Recently, the legislature of North Carolina tried to make it a requirement that at any university in North Carolina, students have to learn about the founding of the United States of America, they've got to find about learn about the founding principles of the Judeo-Christian organizing model. And all the professors at the University of North Carolina signed a very violent petition, they will never agree to that. One of the points of the petition I think, was point number two, by the way, was that this insulted their intellectual authority? Gosh, there's arrogance on the campus. It's breathtaking sometimes. But it's just worth noting that people want the benefits. Oh, you asked the folks at on the faculties of the University of North Carolina, if they like the govern money that flows to them through the student loan scam. Oh, they like the money. But they hate the system that made that money possible in the first place. The system of creativity and collaboration and communication and cooperation, that a shared system of common values made possible. So my goodness, yes. On faculties. Yeah, they don't want to know about the United States, the idea that United States is a Bible-based civilization is utterly rejected. And this is rejected, as I say, in high-tech, financial and technology companies, it's rejected on the campuses or universities. So yeah, look, there are certain threats are, real for American families. Crime is a is a serious threat in America. gas and diesel prices, surging electricity prices out of control. These are serious threats, water shortages, because dams are being destroyed instead of being built. These are serious threats to hardworking American families. And yet, what does the centralized tyrannical regime push? What do University faculties push climate change? Oh, the biggest threat and one of the worst signs that are one of the best signs that the American military has deteriorated and is, is sinking down the same Bottomless Pit is that the leadership of the American military has stated that climate change is the biggest threat facing the United States. Actually, it isn't. It's China. But you know, Far be it from me to tell those brainy guys anything at all. So real threats, like crime and water shortage and gas and diesel prices and electricity costs, things that are really making life hard on American families, inflation, those are the thing and no, climate change is all that is spoken about making gas stoves illegal in New York State are now that's doing something because that's going to help the climate, but the things that people really care about. Now, because this is a struggle between two competing moral visions, two competing visions that have their own social organizing principles, communism, socialism, progressivism on the one side, the Judeo-Christian bible system on the other. And so Western civilization, which grew from those societies, which adopted Christianity, which in itself, adopted Judaism, the faith of Israel, it's no surprise that over 90% of the scientific discoveries and the medical advances Yes, more than 90% of the past 1100 years, came from Christendom came from countries an old fashioned word for Western civilization. I like the word. Yeah, over 90% of the scientific discoveries of the last 1100 years, came out of countries that are Christian countries or were Christian countries. At the same time, I want to establish that no capital market ever emerged indigenously from a non-Christian country. Capital Market that's in the form of stock exchanges, London, Amsterdam. And today you find them of course, all over the place. But that was the whole idea. That's God's design, that people should see how well the system works and voluntarily, not at the point of the sword, but voluntarily adopted. Well, they certainly are trying to adopt the prosperity pot, but they fail to adopt the powerful fuel, the spiritual energy that drives that creative engine.
Daniel Lapin 55:32
Look, many societies have adopted the outward trappings of the West, there's no I mean, I know what some of you are thinking. Of course, this is true. Today, you can go to Beijing and Bombay and Bangkok. And you can look at banks and bathrooms. Yeah, go and visit a bank in Bombay a bathroom in Bangkok, a banks or bathrooms in Beijing, you will see that they're exactly the same way that bathrooms and banks look in Boston and Birmingham and Berlin. But sticking with my B's, however, in most cases, they've neglected to adopt the biblical underpinnings of morality and law that ultimately make possible those outward trappings. I can't stress this sufficiently Importantly, the outward trappings are easy to copy. But ignoring the biblical underpinnings of morality, that and law that power and make possible those outward trappings dooms those, they can't work. And so the durability is in doubt, and it even suggests the importance of the West trying to salvage conscience. By throwing large sums of foreign aid to developing countries it's nuts, completely nuts. The idea that raising taxes on hardworking Americans and sending loads of money to barbaric regions of the world, and that this will convert them into exotic versions of Highland Park, New Jersey or Encino, California, it's laughable. Look, to prove this point, let me share a little thought experiment with you. I asked you to imagine a remote island, whose primitive population spends most of its time robbing and raping, mugging and murdering? What do you think will bring about more change parachuting in bags of cash along with officials of the World Bank? Or if we sent in 100 Christian missionaries? What do you think would have the best impact? Look, you got to see the biblical model is verified by the immigration patterns of the last 60 years. The greatest and most rapid human migration in history has been from non-Christian-founded countries to Christendom or to the west. You know, to put it maybe too bluntly, Saudi Arabia and Somalia have no illegal immigration problems. People vote with their feet for what works and what works in terms of allowing people to make a living. And to stay reasonably safe and secure is the Judeo-Christian-based West. The disturbing deceit inherent in the idea of multiculturalism, and its close cousins, the communist dream of internationalism and globalism. Along with the left's childlike faith in the impotent United Nations. These are nothing but futile manifestations of the attempt to overturn this fourth permanent principle of the Bible. And that brings us to permanent principle of the Bible.
Daniel Lapin 58:58
Number five, this one is about faith. Remember, faith because we did fitness, finance, family and friendship, friendship being the organizing of human society, and realizing that we're supposed to be separate societies, separate groups of friends, permanent principle of the Bible, number five has to do with faith and here it is. There are few more powerful motivators for human beings than a deep conviction in what people's God wants from them. All right, deep down, in reality, nothing is a more powerful motivator for human beings than the deep conviction of what their God wants from them. That's a really important thing. And so that's why faith is part of the five F's. People might say, you know, I'm not a person of faith. Okay, fine. You know, it's like somebody saying, I've got a broken leg, but I'm not a person with two functioning legs. I'm just gonna leave it now. Go to an orthopedic doctor and have it fixed up and be able to become a normal human being again, oh, I'm not a person of faith, well fix it up, do something about it because it's a vitally important part of your success and your happiness. So we got to remember that people are driven by a sense of conviction in what they God wants from us, or them. And you know what, you know, I'll tell you what the best evidence of this the best evidence of this is Islam is Islam. It may not have a God that asks its devotees to build attractive, peaceful, prosperous, successful societies. But those devotees are certainly totally committed. And I'll say it explicitly I admire Islamic belief and commitment and spiritual dedication. Because total commitment even to something wrong, Trump's lukewarm commitment to truth. Shall I say that one more time, total commitment, even to something wrong. Trump's lukewarm commitment to truth. That's right. Just look around the world. And you'll see how true that is. Alcoholics Anonymous works so well for people with drinking problems precisely because its founder Bill Wilson, recognize the need to include God while attempting major human transformation. Not surprisingly, government run anti-drug programs accomplish very little, because they so deliberately and meticulously banish God from the program. These five minute five permanent principles of the Bible are really, really important to understand. Because by looking around and how the world really works, you're able to see the power of these five centralized principles and realize what they can do in your life as well.
Daniel Lapin 1:02:22
The permanent principle of the Bible number one, this one is has to do with our bodily fitness, people are not merely smart animals, we are an entirely different species touched by the finger of God, we possess souls. And this means that any lessons that are learned from animals are simply not useful, they are not applicable to us humans. Now we move to finance, permanent principle Bible. Number two, there are two basic obstacles to any individual's physical survival, extracting a living from an often reluctant Earth using as little of our time and energy as possible. And number two, preventing other stronger people or groups from attacking us, and taking our property or even our lives. That's right. That's principle number two, you've got to be able to make money that's called Making a living, that's how you eat, you got to be able to do that. Got to make money. And then you've also got to be able to prevent others from taking away your money, or even your life. Permanent prills number three has to do with family. in isolation, individuals love short and painful lives. And that's true for you, and you and me here today as well. If we do not have our families and our friends, it's very bad. in isolation, our lives are short and usually painful, only by organizing ourselves into families, and then communities and societies and yes, our nations. That's why nationalism is a good thing. Patriotism is a good thing. Not surprisingly, nationalism is turned into an evil word by progressives, socialists and communists. Internationalism is a great thing. But the idea that I'm for my nation today, you there are people I know of who got fired from their jobs, because they asked they say that I am a nationalistic American patriot, nationalism is turned into a bad word that they call permanent principle of the Bible. Number four friendship. God created separate nations in the world instead of making all humans part of one big group, permanent principle of the Bible number five, faith and that has to do with the fact that we are fundamentally driven even subconsciously if you are a person who is not afraid to use somebody who says you know what, I live very well as a secular human being I don't I don't you know what, I don't believe in God. I'm just I'm a good human being just the way I am. What you don't realize is the extent to which you are motivated, driven, and shaped by your conviction in what your God wants from you. Maybe your God is Gaia, the goddess of nature, in which case you really believe that what your God wants from you more than anything else is to fight global climate change. That's right. There are people who really do believe that it is a religious belief. That's the important thing to understand. And so my dear happy warriors, I'll ask you to visit WWE happy warriors.com website. Join us become part of the happy warriors community and march forward to growth, achievement, change, development and success, in your finances, in your fitness, in your faith, in your family, and in your friendships. I'm Rabbi Daniel Lapin. Thank you for being with us. God bless.
