LESSONS IN APPLIED LOGIC: ‘Passive’ does NOT Necessarily Mean ‘Weak’

In the language of formal logic, the word ‘necessary’ means that something must follow. For example: it is necessary that liquid water be wet. With this principle in mind, we need to understand that being passive does not necessarily mean being weak. Some of the most powerful forces known to man are passive. You can prove this to yourself very easily. Go the nearest wall and push it over. If it doesn’t move, beat it with your fists, or bang your head against it. Does the wall move or punch back? No, yet, if you punched or banged your head against it, you will be injured in the process. Which force was active and which was passive: you hitting or the wall taking the hit? So which is the more powerful: you or the wall?

Now, some will play their games and say that they can push a way over if it is not attached to something and they will think they have made a point. They haven’t, and here’s why. If you apply enough force to anything, you can move or destroy it. But this is not the point. The point is that being passive does not mean or imply being weak. However, how strong a passive force is depends a great deal on its foundation. If we push on a large boulder that is setting on ice, we may well be able to move it. But, if that boulder is cemented to a deep, solid foundation, we are going to need a great deal more force to move it.

When it comes to the application of this principle to human endeavors, the passive force we use is the way we live our lives, and the foundation is how deep and solid our convictions are in whatever belief directs our lives. So, if you are one who is of a political mindset, and you think violence is the only way to affect something, you might want to study the Romans’ attempt to stamp out Christianity. They used the ultimate force: death. But the Christians were standing on a Solid Rock, and though some individuals died, their passive resistance to the power of Rome eventually defeated Rome, itself. The same principles applied to our founding fathers: they understood the principles of Natural Law, and it was upon that deep and firm foundation that they built this nation. So, if we would restore what they built, we must know and understand those principles – and if we do, we will find that they were built upon the same Solid Rock upon which the Christians who passively ground down Rome were standing.