Category: Government, Law, and Education

Why Ukraine will endure

~ MD Harris Institute ~ Leave a comment

I wrote the article below, Why Ukraine will endure, on 27 Feb 2022, shortly after the Russians invaded Ukraine. I did not publish it at the time, though I don’t remember why. While in Kyiv last month, I told Dr. Rick Perhai and others from Kyiv Theological Seminary about the article, and he asked to see a copy. I knew that I had written the piece, but forgot that it was never actually published. So, I couldn’t find it on the MDHI website. Going through my hard drive archives today, while looking for something else, I found the lost article.

On one hand, I have been proven right. Against all odds, Ukraine has endured. Despite the emigration of Ukrainians, many stayed behind to defend their homeland. On the other hand, I did not foresee the momentous changes in warfare occasioned by this conflict. Drones and electronic warfare have revolutionized combat. Ukraine has proven itself masterful at using everything in its arsenal, and more importantly, in its people’s imaginations, to stop the Russian onslaught.

Diplomatically, sanctions have not been as effective as hoped, but then again, sanctions never are. China, North Korea, and India are providing Russia with more than token support. Putin still believes that he is winning and still refuses to negotiate in good faith for peace.

So, for my friends in Ukraine, I have now found the article that I told you about. Happy reading!

By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA.

Continue reading “Why Ukraine will endure” →

Civil Rights Legislation in the US

sculpture of martin luther king jr memorial in gray concrete wall
~ MD Harris Institute ~ Leave a comment

Despite mountains of paper, oceans of ink, and general support for civil rights, civil rights legislation remains controversial. This article summarizes the key parts of the current US civil rights legislation, including the Constitutional basis and disparate impact. It touches on the relationship between morality, religion, and rights. Finally, the article addresses some key ideas in the Bible about civil rights and their source.

By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

What are civil rights?

A common definition is “Civil rights refer to the fundamental rights and freedoms granted to individuals by a government and are protected by law.”[1] This definition invites several questions.

  1. What are rights? Things that people are allowed to do? Things that people are allowed to abstain from doing? How do rights interact between individuals and groups?
  2. What rights are fundamental? The US Declaration of Independence includes the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Are there others? The US Supreme Court and International Courts have interpreted fundamental rights broadly. For example, the term civil rights now includes a right to privacy, which was never mentioned in any of the founding documents but came from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976).
  3. What are freedoms? The ability to do whatever you want? The ability to do whatever God created you to do? Who decides, the individual, the society, or someone or something else?
  4. Who “grants” civil rights? God? The king? In a government of, by, and for the people, wouldn’t the people be “granting” such rights to themselves?
  5. What is “government?” Definitionally, it is “the action or manner of controlling or regulating a nation, organization, or people.” What are the jurisdictional limitations? Does the US government “grant” civil rights to residents of Mauritania? Is the United Nations a government, and does it grant civil rights?
  6. Who are individuals? Citizens? Visitors? Men? Women? Members of a certain race or socioeconomic class? No civilization in history has granted equal rights to every member of society. No society in history has ever held that every person should have exactly equal civil rights (criminals and the physically incompetent often have their rights limited by governments). Ancient civilizations from Rome to Xian to Tenochtitlan have held the emperor to be divine, thereby exercising rights far beyond anyone else. In Hammurabi’s Babylon, the Amelia (elites) had far greater protections than the Mushkenum (freemen) and the Ardu (slaves).
  7. Which law protects civil rights? English common law? Muslim Sharia law? Christian canon law? Hindu Manu Smriti? Buddhist Sangha regulations? Something else?
  8. Should certain groups be protected? If so, which ones? How do you define these groups? Under Sharia, Christians and Jews are dhimmi, not enjoying the same rights and liberties as Muslims. Under the Hindu caste law, each caste has more rights than those below.
  9. What is the relationship between civil rights law and other categories of law, such as civil liberties law? Does a statute or regulation requiring people to use preferred pronouns in addressing a transgender individual violate the US Constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech?

Continue reading “Civil Rights Legislation in the US” →

Philosophy Masquerading as Science

sky
~ MD Harris Institute ~ 1 Comment

Science and technology have revolutionized our world. The average person in a developed country lives better and longer than kings did only 150 years ago. Science is so powerful in the minds of people that it, rather than religion or philosophy, as in an earlier age, is the sole arbiter of truth. Modern people who want to prove their point, whatever that point is, appeal to science. But science cannot answer every question. Often, people and organizations push a political agenda and pretend, or actually believe, that science has proven their agenda to be right. This email conversation is an example.

By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

Several years ago, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) published a policy supporting the requirement for employers to provide contraception for their employees, without a faith-based exception. I sent an email to the AAFP asking why they took such a position.  Such controversial stances would alienate members without achieving meaningful policy goals.  Further, such a position was political, not scientific. AAFP sent me the reply below.

Continue reading “Philosophy Masquerading as Science” →

Defending Taiwan

~ MD Harris Institute ~ Leave a comment

The world in 2025 is a bigger geopolitical mess than it was in 1914. Taiwan, Ukraine, and Israel are developed states at the epicenter of life-or-death struggles.[1] After a recent visit to Taiwan, this article describes a way, and quite probably the only way, for Taiwan to survive as an independent nation if China invades.

By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

Chiang Kai Shek (1887-1975) fled mainland China and moved his nationalists, the Kuomintang (KMT), to Taiwan after their defeat by the communists under Mao Tse Dung (1893-1976) in 1949. Since that year, the Communists ruling mainland China have declared that Taiwan is a renegade province and they will take it back by any means possible, including war.[2]  Every modern Chinese ruler, including the current autocrat Xi Jin Ping, has reaffirmed this intention.[3]

A pre-invasion scenario

Chinese paramilitary “fishing boats”, coast guard ships, and naval vessels encircle Taiwan under the guise of military exercises, law enforcement, or humanitarian actions. These boats partially disrupt Taiwanese imports and exports. Then they leave, having learned valuable lessons and helped lull Taiwanese defenders and politicians into a sleepy acquiescence, like a frog in warming water. Chinese aircraft from bases such as Longtian (in Fujian) harass Taiwanese responding forces. Cyber attackers, space forces, special forces, and others engage. Much of this is happening today. By not firing the first shot, the Chinese undercut nations that may oppose them. If no one physically challenged the blockade, Taiwan would slowly be strangled to death.

Continue reading “Defending Taiwan” →

Avoiding Putin’s Trap

~ MD Harris Institute ~ Leave a comment

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to stop the Russian war on Ukraine. While he possesses a strong personality, Trump’s personality alone is not likely to stop the T-80s from rolling into Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia. Stopping the war is a worthy goal, but Trump and his team need to ensure that they do not lose the peace. The following article illuminates how to get a fair deal.

By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

Background

Ukraine is renowned for its fertile, black soil, and Ukrainian agriculture ranks among the most productive in the world. Fifty-five percent of Ukraine’s land is arable, mostly in the western and central regions, and 14% of Ukrainians work in agriculture.[1] Equally important, Ukraine has historically had several excellent ports on the Black Sea to safely and cheaply get its crops to market. These ports include Odessa, Chernomorsk, Yuzhny, Berdyansk, Mariupol, and Sevastopol.

Situated to the north and east, Russia lacks Ukraine’s vast swathes of rich farmland. For centuries, Russians moving to Ukraine to find a better life had few opportunities to settle in the western and central regions since native Ukrainians were there. The Donetsk and Luhansk regions along the Dnieper River in the east lacked such productive soil but, as the Industrial Revolution began in the 19th century, these regions had something even more valuable. Eastern Ukraine is flush with coal and iron and has a major river to move the coal and iron to market. In the late 19th and early to mid-20th centuries, Russian settlers flocked to these regions, together known as the Donbas. Nationwide, Ukrainians account for 77.8% of the people in the Ukraine and Russians account for 17.3%, but the Russian population percentage is much higher in the Donbas and in the Crimean Peninsula.[2]

Prelude to War

Putin had what he considered to be good reasons to attack Ukraine. He argued that the West had invaded Russia six times in the past two centuries, while Russia had not initiated hostilities against the West.[3] He cited NATO encroachment as a threat to Russia. Putin styled himself as a modern Russian savior along the lines of Peter the Great.

Continue reading “Avoiding Putin’s Trap” →

Are US Elections Fair – My day as a poll worker

~ MD Harris Institute ~ Leave a comment

Citizens across the country worry about America. Voters wonder if their vote counts. In my admittedly limited time as a poll worker, I believe that it does.

By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

“Stop the Steal” was a common phrase used by conservatives in the aftermath of the 2020 Presidential Election. Official counts indicated that former Vice President and long-time senator Joe Biden had prevailed over incumbent President Donald Trump. Trump, however, refused to concede the election. His followers peacefully protested, but a few rioted, at the Capitol in Washington DC on 6 January, although claims that this was a coup are overblown.

The election occurred during the greatest pandemic since 1918, COVID-19. As a result, mail-in ballots and non-traditional voting skyrocketed. Safeguards like correcting voter rolls (eliminating ineligible people) and requiring official photo identification were neglected or even opposed. Election laws written for another time were incapable of coping with modern technologies and a global pandemic. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg poured $419 million of his private fortune into mail-in, get-out-the-vote (GOTV), and shadier efforts for the Democratic Party in 2020.[1] Other deep-pocketed influencers did the same. Their money gave the Democrats a huge advantage in the gray zones of elections where laws are opaque and lawyers lurk. Small-time voter fraud occurred, but whether it was widespread enough to change the election is doubtful. We will probably never know for sure.

Concerned about the past and wanting to improve things in the future, I chose to serve as a poll worker in Raleigh County, West Virginia on 5 November 2024. I wanted to see firsthand how my corner of the system worked. To put the bottom line up front, I was encouraged by what I saw.

Continue reading “Are US Elections Fair – My day as a poll worker” →