Ramon Arias | June 19, 2017
“I have alternately been called an aristocrat and a democrat. I am neither. I am a Christocrat. I believe that all power will fail of producing order and happiness in the hands of man. He alone who created and redeemed man is qualified to govern him.” -Benjamin Rush-The shooter, James T. Hodgkinson, who opened fire on Republicans and other people at a baseball practice the day before the Congressional baseball game, was no psychopath, he doesn’t fit the clinical profile as some pretend to portray him. According to The Week, restaurant owner Charles Orear was acquainted with Hodgkinson through some work they did together in Iowa on Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. Orear described Hodgkinson as “more on the really progressive side of things,” as well as being “a quiet guy” and “very mellow, very reserved.”
As for the description of Hodgkinson being “a quiet guy” and “very mellow, very reserved,” it can be a description of the average American. However, the description of Hodgkinson being on the “progressive side of things” defines his ideological persuasions with the hard left socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders and millions of his supporters. The extreme left socialists have gained much ground in the national landscape of America, and on top of everything, their hatred for President Trump, and the GOP is certainly no secret.
The facts about Hodgkinson’s political ideology are now known and well published, including a list found in his pocket with the names of the GOP Representatives he wanted to kill. The murderous plot was well thought out in advance, and he carried it out with precision. The killer did not expect two things: first, he did not count on God’s divine intervention as witnessed by many congressmen. And second, he also didn’t count on Steve Scalise’s security officers that fired and killed the shooter. Otherwise, it would have been a massacre never before seen in the history of this nation committed against elected officials.
For thousands of years, humanity has suffered from the malady of irrationality. Through the process of time, this irrationality increases becoming dominant thought patterns in the majority of the people, and most of the time the effects are irreversible, and the social conditions have to restart after an inevitable collapse.
Every generation faces the same virus of irrationality, which, if not dealt with, overpowers the sanity of any culture. The challenge becomes clear when defining what is rational and irrational and this is where the rubber meets the road.
When we look up the synonyms and antonyms of the word irrational, it gives us a more ample perspective. According to Merriam-Webster’s:
Synonyms for irrational are: fallacious, illegitimate, inconsequent, inconsequential, invalid, illogical, non-rational, unreasonable, unreasoning, unsound, and weak.
Related Words are eristic (also eristical), misleading, sophistic (or sophistical), specious; half-baked, ill-advised, misguided, unconsidered, unreasoned; inconsistent; absurd, asinine, foolish, meaningless, nonsensical, preposterous, reasonless, senseless, silly; odd, peculiar, strange, surreal, unusual, weird; insane, mad, nutty, whacky; disordered, disorganized, rambling, random; unconvincing; inexplicable, unaccountable, unexplainable.
Near Antonyms commonsense, sane, sensible, sober, wise; enlightened, informed, just, justified, reasoned; ordered, organized; clear, cogent, compelling, convincing, credible, persuasive, plausible, satisfying, solid; certain, sure, true; confirmed, corroborated, demonstrated, established, substantiated, validated
Antonyms logical, rational, reasonable, sound, valid, well-founded, well-grounded
Even with the dictionary explanations of synonyms and antonyms, there is more to consider. Every ideology known in human history has its interpretation of what is rational and irrational.
For the most part, irrational people are controlled by anger, dissatisfaction and are prone to violence. Irrational ideologies demand others be subject to their way of understanding the world. They make it clear that if you don’t embrace their ways, you are an obstruction and must be dealt with accordingly. If you want to be part of their utopian world, you must submit and do what they say without any resistance; otherwise, you pay the consequences.
The only historical, accurate, reliable and authoritative document we have to understand the difference between rational and irrational is the Bible. We must become serious students of the Bible since the Bible interprets itself better than any man can.
By knowing the full counsel of the Word of God, we learn that irrational behavior can never stand against a valid argument. When we study the four Gospels, we learn what Jesus taught and did, even though the religious leaders condemned him as being irrational or demon-possessed. All that Jesus said and did was in accordance to what God revealed in His moral law and through the prophets; He won every time against those who pretended to be rational, even though their life’s fruit was that of an irrational one.
Benjamin Rush’s quote is a reminder of the Founding Father’s biblical worldview. In the case of Rush, he stated that his loyalty was not to any political party that he served in but to his convictions of being a Christocrat. He emphasizes the incompetence of men to produce order and happiness and that the Sovereignty of God who created and redeemed humanity is the only one qualified to govern societies and nations. Rush was right when he stated this and this truth remains unchanged until today because it is the bottom line that all rational people must understand for society to move in the right direction and away from calamity.
Dr. Benjamin Rush was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and was known to be one of the most influential Founding Fathers. He worked for different political parties, with undying loyalty to none. His contributions to the nation were not just political. He is known as the “Father of American Medicine.” He was Founding member of America’s first Bible Society. The creation and implementation of the American Sunday School movement is attributed to him. He was one of the organizers of America’s first Anti-Slavery Society and a leader in the national abolition movement. He was a strong advocate for the use of the Bible in public schools.
Wikipedia gives the following description of Benjamin Rush: he was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush was a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social reformer, humanitarian, and educator as well as the founder of Dickinson College. Rush attended the Continental Congress… He served as Surgeon General of the Continental Army and became a professor of chemistry, medical theory, and clinical practice at the University of Pennsylvania.
Benjamin Rush’s life was Christ centered, that is what he meant by saying he was a “Christocrat,” which is the only way to destroy irrationality and help others understand how to overcome the trap of mental and social slavery. Until then, we can expect the intensification of irrationality.
“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,” Ephesians 4:15 (ESV)