2008 February archive at Zeal For Truth

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Archive for February, 2008

Weekly Links: Underwear, Obama, Anglicans and Athiests - What a Party!

Published by Colin February 29, 2008 in Current Events. 6 Comments

In the great state of Oregon this week, Carmen Kontur-Gronquist , mayor of the small town of Arlington, managed to get herself recalled. What did she do to anger her fellow citizens? Blow up the budget? Tick off the small town aristocracy? Some kind of bizarre sexual deviance? No, no my friends - long before she ever considered running for office, she had a picture taken of herself in your basic set of underwear. At some point, the photos managed to get up on her personal and private myspace account. Someone who had access to the account copied the photo and it eventually got around to the citizenry.

In being asked why the recalled the mayor, school board member Grant Wilkins provided the nugget:

People aren’t laughing with us, they’re laughing at us

Well, to be honest Grant, I wasn’t laughing at anyone until YOU RECALLED YOUR MAYOR OVER A PHOTO TOO TAME FOR A TARGET CATALOGUE.

Barack Hussein Obama
Informed Comment talks about Barack Hussein Obama’s name.

I want to say something about Barack Hussein Obama’s name. It is a name to be proud of. It is an American name. It is a blessed name. It is a heroic name, as heroic and American in its own way as the name of General Omar Nelson Bradley or the name of Benjamin Franklin.

Anglican Church Continues to Fracture
Three Anglican churches have voted to split with the church of Canada and join the South American province.

In all, ten parishes have now split with the Canadian church, all of them because of a fundamental disagreement over its stance on blessing same sex unions.

We spoke to Steve Schuh from Vancouver. Also joining us was The Most Reverend Gregory James Venables, Presiding Bishop of the Province of the Southern Cone. He’s also the Bishop of Argentina and the leader of the parishes that have split with the Anglican Church of Canada. Archbishop Gregory James Venables spoke to us from Buenos Aires.

Audio interview here.

Atheist on Atheist Media
Reason magazine reviews Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, concluding that he is unfailingly critical of religion.

Pullman paints every character connected to the Church or religion, from the fascistic zealots of the Magisterium to the crazed monk in the world of the dead who stubbornly believes he’s in paradise, with an antipathy that sometimes recalls Ayn Rand’s demonization of her welfare-state bureaucrats.

More Linkage
Map of America’s most sinful cities. Who would have though that Salt Lake City managed to make the top 7 in couple categories?

The Pew Forum has published a thorough survey on religious identity in America. Among the findings: one-tenth of Americans are ex-Catholics and the Jehovah Witnesses lose two-thirds of their children but still manage to grow.

A New Ice Age?

Lew Rockwell writes about the triumph of the Red-State fascists. Microsoft fined EU899 Million for “non-compliance” with anti-trust laws. The company overcharged for patent licenses that rivals needed to connect products to the Windows platform, the European Commission said.

Eskimo village sues over global warming.William F. Buckley dead!

How Much Justice is Enough Justice?

Published by gurr8 February 28, 2008 in General, Politics and Current Events. 17 Comments

Robert Pickton was a pig farmer in British Columbia who [allegedly] murdered 26 women between 1997 and 2001 and buried them on his property. In the name of expediency, the prosecutor decided to move ahead after the first six cases were ready, promising that a second trial would cover the remaining 20 murder allegations. Last year, after an 11 month trial, he was convicted of those six murders (in the second degree). Now, B.C.’s Victim Services is telling victim’s families that a second trial will likely not occur.

Canada does not execute criminals. Pickton received the maximum sentence of life imprisonment with no parole eligibility for 25 years. In 2032 Pickton can apply for parole. At that time he would have to prove to a parole board that he is rehabilitated and is no longer a danger to others. The chances of his being released are, in the words of his own defense attorney, “extremely slim”.

Friends and family of the remaining 20 alleged victims are outraged by the news that a second trial will not likely proceed. Their pain and desire for their day in court is understandable. But the question has to be asked: what would be accomplished by a second trial? Pickton already received the maximum sentence possible. The first trial took 11 months, so it is conceivable that the second trial could take 3 years. It has been estimated that a second trial could cost $100 million.

The Justice System is not infinite and it is not a make-work program. Are we willing to invest 3 years and $100 million for no gain? While it is understandable that these alleged victim’s families want “their turn” at justice, one has to ask whether this desire is in fact a detriment to the Justice System and, therefore, to justice in general.

Hell’s Best Kept Secret

Published by Kenneth Martens February 27, 2008 in Book Reviews and Christian Books. 30 Comments

Book review: Hell’s Best Kept Secret, by Ray Comfort
Whitaker House, 1989
192 pages
Amazon.com link

Modern Evangelism Neglects the Law
In Hell’s Best Kept Secret, Ray Comfort explains why traditional evangelical methods of preaching the gospel result in an eighty to ninety percent backslider rate. Modern evangelism preaches a man-centered gospel, presenting Jesus as the answer to worldly problems: come to Jesus and you’ll have a happy, fulfilled life. So what is Hell’s best kept secret? The preaching of the Law. Without an understanding of the seriousness of sin, the sinner still views himself as a pretty good person. Unless and until the sinner experiences a genuine conviction of sins, his conversion is a false conversion. Without conviction, there can be no repentance; without repentance, there is no saving faith.

The Four Step RCCR Method of Witnessing
Comfort explains a four step method for witnessing to unbelievers.

Relate - Begin by making smalltalk or by discussing something mundane. The idea is to take a genuine interest in the person you’re talking to. Engage them in conversation and put them at ease.
Create - Find an opportunity to swing the conversation to spiritual matters. Giving someone a tract can be an easy method to do this, or you can do something as simple as asking “Do you have a religious background?” If you are alert for opportunities, you can work it into the conversation naturally:

Let’s suppose that you’ve been discussing with a friend the problem of increased violence within our society. You decide to swing to the spiritual by saying, “What this nation needs is a return to Christian principles.” [page 93]
Convict - Use the Ten Commandments to lead the sinner to an understanding of the seriousness of his sin and of its consequences.
Reveal - When you see evidence of conviction of sins, then you reveal the good news of the grace offered by Christ’s sacrifice.

The step that modern evangelism skips is the conviction step. This is an incomplete presentation of the gospel. Without preaching the Law, the sinner does not know he is in danger of eternal punishment. Once he understands the Law, his sin is revealed to him, and he understands the need for a savior.

Conviction of Sin vs. Fire and Brimstone
It is critical that the sinner understand that the consequences for sin are reasonable. If you just preach fire and brimstone without explaining the Law, the sinner may turn to Jesus out of fear of hell, but he won’t really believe that he deserves hell. He will be a bitter convert, and there will be no genuine repentance.

Continue reading ‘Hell’s Best Kept Secret’

Biblical Bodily Healing Part IV: Healing and Redemption

Published by Chris A February 26, 2008 in General and Religion. 46 Comments

In the Old Testament God revealed himself through various names that describe his character and reveal his personality. The name Jehovah was considered by the Israelites to be the most holy name of God. This name reveals God as Creator, being self-existent, self-sufficient, and unchanging.

There are seven compound names of Jehovah that reveal his redemptive nature. Redemption simply means to buy back by the payment of a price. Mankind was brought under the authority of darkness after Adam’s sin, and it was thus necessary for God to send a Redeemer to pay the price for sin and restore mankind to fellowship with his Creator. There are seven compound names of Jehovah in the Old Testament, all of which foreshadow the coming Christ. I will briefly define in basic terms these compound names.

Jehovah-Raah – The Lord our shepherd
Jehovah-Jireh – The Lord our provider
Jehovah-Tsidkenu – The Lord our righteousness
Jehovah-Shalom – The Lord our peace
Jehovah-Shammah – The Lord is present
Jehovah-Nissi – The Lord our protector
Jehovah-Rapha – The Lord our healer

Most Christians would scarcely disagree that Jesus is presently our shepherd, our provider, our righteousness, and our peace. Most believe that he is with us always, even until the end of the age. They know him as their protector, but when it comes to the question of healing that is quite another matter. Some hold to the idea that healing is only for the soul. Others say that bodily healing passed away with the last apostle, or that healing occurs only in rare and special instances dependent on the unrevealed attributes of God’s sovereignty. In other words, they believe God heals some and not others. Why do Christians adhere to such ideas? I believe it is simply because they do not believe that healing is a benefit of redemption, either because they have not been taught that it is or they have been taught that it is not.

The Redemptive Work of Christ

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time (1 Timothy 2:5, 6).

The price Jesus paid to redeem mankind was his own body. There are various references in the Bible to the redemptive benefits afforded to believers. These benefits are afforded to those who believe on the basis of God’s grace. Access into this grace is only afforded to those who exercise faith, and faith is based on the knowledge of God. For instance, a person could not have faith for the remission of his sins apart from the knowledge that God would grant him that benefit if he sought it. Faith is the result of having heard the word of God which imparts the knowledge of God. It is commonly accepted that redemption includes salvation, in the sense that one is cleansed from sin and its eternal penalty. However, we must ask whether redemption includes salvation from the immediate penalty of sin – sickness and disease. I believe the scriptures answer this question.

Isaiah 53
The 53^rd chapter of Isaiah offers perhaps the most vivid and prophetic picture of Christ as Redeemer. For clarity we will examine the entire chapter from Young’s Literal Translation. Pay special attention to verses 4, 5, 6, and 10.
Continue reading ‘Biblical Bodily Healing Part IV: Healing and Redemption’

The Drug War and Everyday Economics

Published by Colin February 25, 2008 in Essays, Politics and Current Events. 17 Comments

There are some basic laws in economics that most people understand. If not intellectually, they definitely can grasp these laws intuitively as they interact with others in the marketplaces of idea, goods, services, politics and human relationship.

Everyday Economic Examples
For example, we may not think about it as much, but all of us who are married are monopolists. We have obtained a scarce resource - our spouse - and made a contract with them guaranteeing us exclusive use of their bodies (at least). Monogamy is a monopolistic concept. If another man engages in force to break this contract between my wife and I, or if my wife willingly violates this law with another man - many people would see me as justified in seeking justice over the broken contract.

We can understand the basics of supply and demand. Many people might notice that HDDVD players dropped in price quite a bit over this last month, almost half in some stores. People paying attention to the news on this know that Blue Ray has won the next gen format war and that HDDVD support is going to dwindle. It is no shock to them, then, that prices have gone down, as the demand for these goods is sloping downward in favor of the victor.

Rising prices is something that is understood in the same way, but the inherent emotionalism of people often clouds the interpretation. Nevertheless, there is still some basic part of everyone that can rationalize why Superbowl tickets can sell for over a thousand dollars. It does not take an MBA to know that there are literally hundreds of thousands of people who would like to go to the Superbowl, but only about 70,000 seats. The demand far exceeds the supply - this is going to push the price up dramatically.

The Universality of Economics
Yet while people do generally understand the way the world works (for this reason, much of economics fits into a broader category of science and sociology called “natural law”) they fail to apply these principles universally. Professor Edwin W. Patterson said it thusly:

Principles of human conduct that are discoverable by “reason” from the basic inclinations of human nature, and that are absolute, immutable and of universal validity for all times and places. This is the basic conception of scholastic natural law … and most natural law philosophers.

While this explains our inherent understanding of monogamy or HDDVD prices, it does not explain why it is that we still pursue such economically infeasible and irrational projects such as universal health care, farm supports, wage and price controls and even the drug war.

Application to Drug Laws
Take the issue of the illegal drug trade. The United States and most countries with anti-drug laws are entirely focussed on fighting drug use by attempting to overwhelm economic law. It is US policy to go after the “supply side” of drugs - dealers, suppliers and importers.

But this policy is inherently flawed. For instance, we know that it is demand for a good or service which drives the market. A good can be either scarce or abundant, but until lots of people want it, no one does much to bring it to market. Oil was never a valuable substance until it became an instrumental element of energy creation and expenditure. Drugs are heavily demanded because of their addictive nature. A heroin addict is going to want the drug (or a valid substitute) whether it is $10 or $1,000 a hit.

This is why supply-side enforcement practices fail. Every time the coast guard, FBI, CIA or police manage to prevent or arrest a supplier of drugs, the result is an increased scarcity (with no decrease in demand). This is akin to a drought in California, with steady demand for oranges remaining. The price shoots up, encouraging farmers of other goods to switch to making oranges to satisfy the demand (and obtain higher profits). Drug busts do the same thing - people who were doing law-abiding professions now risk criminality to grow a few pot plants on the side to cash in on the high price. This criminalizes more and more of society, and perpetuates and expands the drug problem.

Victory in Surrender
The very fact that were “fighting” the drug war is causing us to lose. With every single “victory” - we are bringing about more drug use and encouraging more of the anti-social and criminal activity that accompanies a black market.

But the irrationality persists. It absolutely baffles some as to why people like myself, who do not use drugs (nor ever will), could support the decriminalization of all drugs. I have been called unchristian, I have been called an anarchist (with malevolent intent) and I have been even called ignorant or reckless for such a proposition. But the reality is that universal natural law is on my side - because I detest drug use and the crime that surrounds it, I see no other moral alternative but to support the only rational solution to the problem.

Until we admit that we cannot “fight gravity” (that is, overcome natural law by government laws) then we are just going to keep jumping up towards the sky in futility, wearing ourselves out. We will devote more and more resources, better used in much more productive pursuits, to an unwinnable war. We will drain the economy, encourage crime and strengthen the “enemy” until the economic backlash against us is so strong that it will knock us over.

Weekly Links: Obama’s Global Tax Giveaway

Published by Colin February 22, 2008 in Current Events. 8 Comments

It appears that Barack Obama’s global tax proposal is up for Senate vote. I have not been super-down on Obama because he has seemed to emphasize a strong respect for individual civil rights. It would appear, however, that his ideals for fiscal policy are downright terrifying.

According to the link:

A nice-sounding bill called the “Global Poverty Act,” sponsored by Democratic presidential candidate and Senator Barack Obama, is up for a Senate vote on Thursday and could result in the imposition of a global tax on the United States. The bill, which has the support of many liberal religious groups, makes levels of U.S. foreign aid spending subservient to the dictates of the United Nations.

However, I want to make a warning to conservatives, before they jump on the bandwagon to strike at the Illinois Senator. The power vested in the congress to do this was allowed and even encouraged at times by conservatives. The conservatives wanted the power to do conservative things like make wars and fund “strategic alliances.” But conservatives don’t remain in charge forever (even if under that name). This is the nature of power - it creates a vacuum that attracts abuse. For example, conservatives who support all the increased surveillance, identification and detention need to consider what a Hillary Clinton or even more radical leftist would do with these powers.

This is part of the inherent failures of even so called “modern” government systems. Whereas democracies falter because the people elect autocratic planners and leaders to do everything for them, republics fall because laws get passed that give significant power to the law-makers. This is what happens when principles are compromised for expediency.

Politiques
Scalia believes that torture might be okay in certain circumstances

Paul Edwards at Townhall.com defends the Religious Right against the Religious Left: “The Religious Left is successfully redefining what it means to be a conservative evangelical by misrepresenting what it means to be a conservative evangelical.”

L’Eglise
A review of the next book in the Emerging conversation…

Saudi witch to be executed

Parents Fous
Sixth grade girls basketball game turns ugly in Oregon

Biblical Bodily Healing Part III: Longevity, Not Immortality

Published by Chris A February 21, 2008 in Religion. 10 Comments

Man Was Never Immortal
When discussing what the Bible teaches about healing and health, the question of immortality invariably comes up. The logic being that if healing is really a provision of the redemptive work of Christ to be presently enjoyed, then that must mean that physical death is abolished. However, this logic is flawed in many respects. First of all, if we read the Genesis account we cannot determine that man was created mortal or immortal. This is difficult to understand because it seems logical that he had to have been one or the other. Nevertheless, this does not appear to be the case.

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Genesis 2:17).

This verse indicates that Adam and Eve were not mortal, because death resulted from eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken (Genesis 3:22, 23).

From this verse we see that eating from the Tree of Life would have resulted in immortality, and that God removed man from the garden to ensure that he did not become immortal.

Death Not Yet Abolished
As we discussed in Part II of this series, physical death has not yet been done away with. First Corinthians 15:26 identifies physical death as the “last enemy that shall be destroyed.” Since mankind was never immortal and physical death is not yet abolished, we will all inevitably die. However, this fact is not incompatible with what the Bible teaches about healing.

And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfill (Exodus 23:25, 26).

Notice that this passage speaks of the promise to take away disease, but emphasizes long life. It is possible, therefore, to live a long life and die of natural causes without disease.

Defining Longevity
When we read Genesis, we see men living hundreds of years. We know that people do not live that long today. So how can we define longevity in modern terms? One clue is found in Genesis 6:3.

Then the LORD said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.’ (New International Version)

I believe this refers to the maximum number of years men can live on the earth under the present conditions. Today, it is unusual for people to live this long, but it is not completely unheard of. To be fair, there are some that believe that this verse refers to the number of years that would pass before God flooded the earth. I disagree, but there is not enough biblical evidence here for me to be dogmatic about my position. However, I would point out that the phrase, “his days will be a hundred and twenty years” is preceded by a comment on human mortality.
Continue reading ‘Biblical Bodily Healing Part III: Longevity, Not Immortality’

Montana Makes Mad Mention in the Matter of Munitions

Published by Colin February 20, 2008 in Current Events. 2 Comments

That is, they are threatening that if the Supreme Court rules disfavorably to an individual right to keep and bear arms in the Heller case, they will see that as a violation of their contract with the United States and reserve “all usual rights and remedies under historic contract law if its Compact should be violated by any ‘collective rights’ holding in Heller.”

The resolution, which has only been signed by some of the legislators, declares that “any ‘collective rights’ holding in D.C. v. Heller will violate Montana’s compact with the united states, the contract by which Montana entered the union in 1889.”

This, along with The Montana Sovereignty Protection Act and the state’s stringent opposition to Real ID, make it quite an attractive place for libertarian-leaning folks to reside.

Vico And Calvin, Part 1

Published by Bryan February 19, 2008 in Philosophy. 10 Comments

This is part 1 in a series comparing the Italian Philosopher Giambattista Vico’s understanding of providence with that of John Calvin’s understanding. Vico is for the vast majority of people an obscure philosopher, but his thoughts on providence, and why he holds to the view he does, are worth examining. All quotes from Vico are from his New Science, while all quotes from Calvin are from his Institutes of Christian Religion.

One of the major themes throughout Vico’s The New Science is providence. It is important to understand his philosophy of providence (even though it is not always the easiest idea to understand) since it effects all other areas of his philosophy. Because Vico does not systematically set out his understanding of providence, but instead threads it throughout his discussions of history, freedom, and God - great care is needed to understand exactly what is meant in regards to providence and the implications that follow from it.

To aid in this task, it is useful to compare his understanding of providence with another philosopher who also has a robust, but more systematic understanding, of it. Within this essay, John Calvin will be used to fulfill this task. Comparing Vico’s and Calvin’s views will not only be philosophically interesting but theologically as well. Although both were Christian philosophers/theologians, Vico was a Renaissance Catholic writer whose lived from 1668-1744, while Calvin was a Protestant Reformer who lived from 1509-1564.

Providence in Vico - Progress Through Institutions
To begin to understand the concept of providence in Vico, one must first determine the purpose it serves within his philosophy. One of the main questions in The New Science is how civilizations arise, fall and arise again; in essence, he is trying to understand how civil society progresses. To do this, he believes that an understanding of providence is necessary, he even lays out his task as setting up “a rational civil theology of divine providence” (Vico 342).

Why does he need a philosophy of providence to achieve this? Many people today look to economic, sociological, technological, or cultural factors to understand the progression of civilizations without reference to providence. Unlike many contemporary writers, Vico is working within the framework of historic Christianity, and therefore must deal with a biblical anthropology. Civilizations are made up of humans, and according to Christianity those humans are in a fallen state. As Vico explains;

But men, because of their corrupt nature, are under the tyranny of self-love, which compels them to make private utility their chief guide. Seeking everything useful for themselves and nothing for their companions, they cannot bring their passions under control to direct them towards justice. (Vico 341)

A corrupt civilization left to their own devices would not progress, but degrade. Vico recognizes this, but sees a solution in divine providence. Mankind is not left to their own devices but God, through divine providence, aids mankind (Vico 136). It is therefore divine providence that allows a civilization to avoid self-destruction, move forward, and be just, which why it is so central to Vico’s thought. Providence therefore has worked throughout the history of the world by allowing humans to develop institutions that moved our civilizations forward (Vico 342). This providence is not personal, and is difficult to see in the moment, but when Vico looks back at history he believes that one can see how providence worked through ordinary action to bring history to the point it is now at. In this brief sketch of Vico’s understanding of providence there is much that is similar in a broad sense to how Calvin understands providence, but when the details are sorted out the ideas diverge in important ways.

Calvin’s Providence - God “Holds the Helm”
Like Vico, Calvin takes the biblical story of the fall of mankind from perfection to a corrupt nature seriously; “All this being admitted, it will be beyond dispute, that free will does not enable any man to perform good works, unless he is assisted by grace…” (Calvin II. II. VI.) Unlike Vico’s work, Calvin’s main concern in The Institutes of Christian Religion is not an understanding of how civilizations work, but an exposition of the Christian faith. However the question of government is not far from his mind (Calvin II. II. III.), and he therefore understands the implications of this biblical anthropology as well as Vico does.

As with Vico, Calvin also sees providence as a way of overcoming man’s corrupt nature, however the divergence between Vico and Calvin can already be begun to be seen on this point. In book one, chapter 16 of The Institutes of Christian Religion Calvin defines providence;

First, then, let the reader remember that the providence we mean is not one by which the Deity, sitting idly in heaven, looks on at what is taking place in the world, but one by which he, as it were, holds the helm, and overrules all events. (Calvin I. XVI. IV.)

For Calvin, providence involves God watching over, and controlling all things that take place in the world. It is not that God’s providence allows humans to do good as Vico holds, but that it is God who does the good in spite of humanity. Both views use a kind of providence to overcome the problem of how a corrupt civilization can bring about good things, but uses that providence in radically different ways which will be explored further next time.

To be continued in part 2

George Washington’s Farewell Address

Published by Colin February 18, 2008 in Politics. 19 Comments

While history has either been overly kind of the good General, or the spirit of revisionism has caught up to him - and historians are striping away the layers of patriotism accumulated over the years to look at the man in a very different light.

Regardless of the reader’s view, let look at some excerpts from his farewell address. Let’s consider the words of the man, and forget the messenger for a moment.

On Political Parties
I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party, generally.

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty.

On Abuse of Power
It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution, in those intrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism.

The Importance of Constitutional Principles Versus “Emergencies”
If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way, which the constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for, though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit, which the use can at any time yield.

Don’t Go into Debt, Peace Brings Prosperity
As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is, to use it as sparingly as possible; avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts, which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burthen, which we ourselves ought to bear.

Diplomacy Through Trade, Avoid Multi-National Alliances and Government
Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing, with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another; that it must pay with a portion of its independence for whatever it may accept under that character; that, by such acceptance, it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion, which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.

Zeal For Truth