"Live Free or Die:" NH man chooses 'die', setting himself on fire to protest America's decline

This is interesting...
New Hampshire man lights himself on fire to protest America’s decline
by Simon Black
Late last week, Thomas James Ball reached his breaking point. Driven to desperation by a system that bankrupted him and destroyed his family, Ball walked up to the main door of the Keene County, New Hampshire courthouse, doused himself with gasoline, and lit himself ablaze.
Hardly anyone seems to have noticed.
Conversely, when a 26-year old Tunisian man lit himself on fire a few months ago after police confiscated the fruits and vegetables he had been selling without a proper permit, it launched a wave of revolution across the Middle East.
People were shocked into taking action… protests and riots swept the region and one regime after another crumbled.
Rather than sparking an “American spring” and shocking US citizens into taking their country back, though, Mr. Ball’s act of self-immolation seems to have been largely ignored. There has been scant coverage (and scant is being extremely generous) of Mr. Ball in the mainstream media, and what little coverage there is generally discredits the man as a troublemaker.
This is how the system’s gatekeepers have been so adroit at maintaining the status quo– by suppressing dissent, marginalizing the detractors, and distracting the populace with meaningless, irrelevant drivel.
There's a lot more at the link.

Are Americas so numbed by overindulgence, so dumbed down by the education system, so bummed by shrinking paychecks, that they don't even react to an American MAN ON FIRE? The Tunisian who set himself alight last December sparked a revolution in his country that spread to neighboring nations that brought down rulers and is forever called The Arab Spring.

Since I was a small child, my memory remains indelibly seared with images of people who had set themselves on fire. Vietnam War, India protests, Czechoslovakians protesting Soviet invasion, Kurds during Clinton presidency, Chinese...all imprinted on my mind. What would cause a person to do such a gruesome thing to themselves, I'd wonder. What an awful way to go.

Mr Ball had reached the end of his rope. According to his suicide note, and his blog, he was depressed, sad, angry, and hoping that his act, or ANY act would spark a change in the course of what we all see happening. His act is a symbol of the great gulf that is fixed, with two paths inexorably set in stone, each with their travelers.

There are people like Mr Ball who draw on their man-made hope. They have optimism. They have the sunniness of past American experience to propel them toward what they surmise will be a continually sunny future. It won't be, ever again. It will only get worse. When people realize that, and at some level millions are realizing that fact right this minute, they cave. They collapse, because "there's no there there." The center does not hold.

Those on the other path have hope too. It is not man-made. It is not generated from the recesses of a dark and corrupt spirit. It is from Above. It is endless, eternal, pure, and strong. It is the Hope of redemption in Jesus Christ, and His eternal Kingdom. THAT hope never leaves a person. It indwells us by supernatural command of the Most High. We abound in hope. (Romans 15:13). We continue in immovable hope. (Colossians 1:23). We have a better hope. (Hebrews 7:19). We have a hope that against all hope triumphs over difficulties! (Romans 4:18).

We will see more people lose hope in the coming days, though I pray they won't commit suicide nor do an act such as Mr Ball's self-immolation! It is my prayer that we Christians who possess the highest hope of all eternity will share it, in word and in deed. Be strong and of good faith, because our Hope is near.

Comments

  1. Wow, this is sad. Yeah he def. believed it would start a revolution like it did in the middle east but people are too willingly asleep....everything will change in a second and it won't be because of the people like it was in the middle east. May God have mercy on this once great country.

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  2. What a sad story. And what's sadder is that no one cared. I cringed reading this, knowing the kinds of things that WERE focused on in the news rather than this.

    How do people not notice what is happening around them? That's a rhetorical question, because I know the answer-- they don't want to see. Or they don't have eyes to see.

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  3. How awful...I wonder what it WILL take to get our attention?

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  4. after reading your blog and your feelings about other cultures, I am compelled to share this video with you. please follow this link and watch this video.

    http://youtu.be/j9apMRjugSA

    god loves, god bless

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  5. Anonymous, you mistake my feelings for "other cultures" as the feelings I have expressed for other *religions*. ALL other religions except the religion where the repentant disciple follows the Jesus of the Bible are false. Other cultures are comprised of people made in the likeness and image of God, who loves them. We are commanded to love our neighbor, and I do, from all cultures.

    The video is another of those skewed "look at those awful Christians persecuting everyone who doesn't believe and forcing Christianity down their throats." I have no other comment to add about it than that.

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  6. You might want to watch that video again, that is far from the message that is within it. You will always be angry and frustrated about the ways that people disrespect your religion when you utilize your own faith to disrespect others and the faith of others.

    I pray for you and everyone who is subjected to your words, most of which are false from a biblical and scientific standpoint and will only be agreed upon by those who respect you too much to disagree.

    god bless you, and everyone who you have caused pain and suffering with your words. I forgive you, for you know not what you do.

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  7. Well, if Americans took to the streets and chaos erupted, it would be catastrophic for the whole world. The world economy rests on the US and it would be a really grim scenario if it replicates the same unrest in the middle east.

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  8. Of course I don't want to watch the video again. I don't disrespect other religions, because I have no respect for them in the first place. Any religion that doesn't hold Jesus as the only true way to heaven disrespects HIM, and that is blasphemy. I don't respect blasphemy. People can walk the path to destruction all they want, singing the song of tolerance and praise to false gods, but until and unless they repent and believe in Jesus, they will die.

    A "false biblical standpoint"? Jesus said "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no man comes to he father except by me." John 14:6. He didn't say 'I am one of the many ways, one of the different personal truths you can choose to believe, and the life as long as you live until the next one when karma reincarnates you.' If you believe there are other ways to heaven you also are on the road to destruction. Hard words, yes, but true nonetheless. The only cure is repentance of sins, each individual must make that decision for him or herself. I hope you do.

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  9. Anonymous, "Well, if Americans took to the streets and chaos erupted, it would be catastrophic for the whole world. The world economy rests on the US and it would be a really grim scenario if it replicates the same unrest in the middle east" I agree completely. Yo might be interested in Michael T. Snyder's Economic essay, http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-sovereign-debt-crisis-is-never-going-to-end-until-there-is-a-major-global-financial-collapse. He echoes the same sentiments you shared.

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  10. Thank you for the link to the essay, Elizabeth. That's why it is best that things stay this way. The Bible says that we are to submit to authorities. Sure, the government is flawed on all counts, but it's what we have. And we'll have to make do with what we have.

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  11. To the first anonymous:

    Hurting someone? Exactly the opposite: Elizabeth HELPS SO MANY, of this I am sure, by warning them of what is coming, and by proclaiming THE ONLY WAY to escape it-- Jesus Christ!

    She is a watch(woman). And what she does will always come under attack from the enemy-- consider that carefully. But she has the LORD, the VICTOR, on her side.

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