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The 4th of July is a day where everyone stands up and says "I'm proud to be American?"



Right?



Oh, I forgot. Half the world hates us, and most of it is deserved. I mean, we manufacture wars, install governments, and help destroy them when they don't want to be our puppets. We do sound like total assholes.



But the 4th still holds a special place for me. Not because I'm proud of what my country does. But because of what it did.



Because hundreds of years ago, a bunch of guys stood up and said "Hey, England! Just because you're the most powerful force in the world doesn't mean we're scared of you! Leave us alone!"



And from that desire to be free, an incredibly poor, beat down, and backwoods army managed to fight until the British said "Hey, hey, hey. Can't we just get along?"



Imagine of Rhode Island went and fought a war to free themselves from the rest of the US. That's pretty well what happened.



So here's to those brave souls who fought to free this country from English rule. They never got to see how far this country would fall, but their conviction is an inspiration.



I hang a flag of 13 stars for them today.

To learn is how to know.



To know we must question, study, think, and experiment.



A simple process.



But is this really enough? Knowledge will rarely be what we want to be true, but rather what -is- true, despite what we wish for. To face this unfortunate fact, one needs to have heart; braver to see what is instead of the falsehoods we wish for. That so few people embrace this ideal is why mankind stagnates today. Too few are willing to question, too many are afraid of truth. Afraid of transcendance.



Another quality one needs that isn't a part of the cycle of learning is persistance. Often in the quest for truth, more questions will be generated. These in turn create more questions, all leading down different paths to their own truth. If one lacks the fortitude to walk each path, one will find their questioning to be limited. For one who lacks this all that matters is the end. But to truly know, one must also see the why and the how of something, not just the result.



The ones who lack the bravery to question, the ones weak in heart, are simple sheep. Content to accept things at face value, happy to be led around and told what is true. Their only use is to be used. Move them as one would pawns upon a chessboard. Those that have the heart but lack the fortitude to carry all lines of questioning are as wolves. They walk a path that all too often turns to the path of the tyrant. The mindset lends itself well to the thought "the ends justify the means." It isn't too hard to turn this into "the ends -always- justify the means." These are weapons, but carry two edges.

According the the Church of Satanism, the key beliefs are all aimed at achieving divinity thru emulation, rather than divinity thru supplication. This is in many other beliefs, such as Thelemic sorcery, the Dragon Rouge, and even some forms of Buddism.



One of the things that appeals to it most to me is the flexible moral structure that it upholds. After all, a ban against killing could end your life if one was attacked. In a life or death situation, more often than not, saving oneself is more important than upholding a belief in not ending anothers life.



Also, the purported belief that most dieties are such because of their followers believing in them is something that I greatly agree with. I've long thought that belief was one of the strongest forces in the universe, and ultimately it's impossible to say who does the creating. Do Gods create their People, or do People create their Gods? In ancient Africa many great spirits were dark skinned, but in Ireland they were pale. If horses could represent their gods, wouldn't they appear equine?



This all seems a very empowering way to look at the world. A view that doesn't require supplication to cold powers. One that allows for the elevation of oneself above the common man, not for reasons of race or creed, but because they achieve change in the world.



This bears more looking into.