Statement of My Core Philosophical Beliefs

In brief, I am a Christian reincarnationist. So the beliefs below reflect this, and I believe they all are in harmony with Christ's teachings.

1) Every person is a child of God, and is here on Earth to grow toward God.

2) Each of us should love God and love others, even our enemies.

3) Each of us ought to treat others as we would like to be treated.

4) Each of us is to use our talents to help make the world a better place.

5) Cause and effect operates in the realm of human interactions as well as in the realm of physical laws. Hence, the consequence of each person’s thoughts, words, or deeds will return to that person in kind. For example, loving thoughts or actions that benefit other people’s lives will come back to us as loving thoughts or actions which others show toward us.  Similarly, negative actions will result in a negative repercussion. To summarize, “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.”

6) Adults are personally responsible for their own lives – for each thought, word, and deed that they have.

7) Each person has the right to life, liberty, and to be secure in their own property. Thus, each person has the right to live life in the manner in which he or she sees fit, as long as this does not interfere with the right of others to do the same.
 
(I use the term “property” to refer to anything tangible or intangible that can belong to a person or group of persons. A car, an engagement ring, money, a legal contract, a business, and a patent are examples of property that a person may own. This is to be distinguished from the term “natural resources” in that the natural resources are tangible or intangible entities that are a product of nature. Thus the air, trees, oil, minerals, water, land, radio, electro-magnetic spectrum, etc., are natural resources).

8) No person, group, or government entity should force their beliefs on another, nor is it the role of government to legislate as to how individuals should lead their lives, as long as they do so peacefully. Rather, the main role of government is to protect our right to have whatever beliefs we have, and to protect our right to live as we see fit, as long as this is done in peace.

9) Each person has the right to defend himself, his family, his country, other people who are innocent from harm initiated by another person or group of persons.

10) Since the Earth’s natural resources were not created by individuals, they do not a priory belong to any one individual or group of individuals; therefore, they should be considered the property of the people as a whole. Hence, they ought to be under the control of the government, which may then sell, lease, or rent such resources to individuals, groups of individuals, or corporations who may then use or develop these resources so that they can be of value to themselves and others.  These entities would then be required to pay a fee to the government or each individual, for the right to extract a natural resource.

11) Children are our greatest resource, and families with loved and well-reared children are the bedrock of a true civilization. Parents are responsible for the upbringing of their children, and each child has the right to love, food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and education. It is the responsibility of the child’s parents to provide these. (However, it may be currently necessary or expedient for the government to assist parents with some of these responsibilities with subsidies. In such cases, the parents should be given as much freedom as possible to fulfill their responsibilities to their children). The ideal situation is that children are raised by their married, biological parents in a loving environment.  It is also best if the mother need not be concerned with earning money, so that she may focus on this most important of tasks.
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Tim Farage is a Senior Lecturer and Graduate Adviser in the Computer Science Department at The University of Texas at Dallas. The views expressed here are those of the author. You are welcome to comment upon this blog entry and/or to contact him at tfarage@hotmail.com.
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