Ronald Reagan on His Knees
August 6, 2013 1 Comment
We need more of our politicians to have his perspective!
Trumping Freedom of Religion
October 11, 2012 Leave a comment
Official portrait of United States Health and Human Services Secretary . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Does the freedom of religion only apply to churches not to individuals? How do they think the HHS mandate exemption is not applicable to any organization besides churches? “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” Does HHS think that they don’t have to follow the 1st Amendment because they’re not Congress? They represent the fourth branch of government: the bureaucracy. Since they have piggybacked the HHS mandate onto Obamacare it stands to reason that it is a direct violation of the first amendment.
Actually the problem is that sexual freedoms are running afoul of religious freedoms. Or maybe we should think of it as religious freedoms running afoul of sexual freedom. With the HHS mandate Kathleen Sebelius has made it clear that sexual freedom must trump religious freedom. That’s probably why our founding fathers listed freedom of sexuality before freedom of religion in our Constitution. Of course not! Sexual freedom is not listed in the Constitution. That freedom along with the right of privacy on which abortion on demand is predicated was superimposed on the Constitution by modern courts.
Related articles
- Obama Justice Department to Colorado Family: Give Up Your Faith or Your Business (thegatewaypundit.com)
- A Debate on Religious Liberty in America (VIDEO) (heritage.org)
- The assault on religious freedom in 21st century America (thegoodfruits.wordpress.com)
ObamaCare Fumble
June 28, 2012 Leave a comment
English: Depiction of the House vote on H.R. 3590 (ObamaCare) on March 21, 2010, by congressional district. Democratic yea Democratic nay Republican nay No representative seated (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It appears that we are not going to be rescued by 9 (or even 5) black robed justices on white chargers. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court upheld ObamaCare this morning. In fact I think it is absurd for us as Americans to wait on the decision of the Supreme Court justices on pins and needles as though they are going to restore the limited government intent of the Constitution. The recent appointments to the court by President Obama pretty much assure us that these justices will incrementally continue to advance a Leftist agenda in our nation.
It is time for us to pass an amendment to the constitution that limits the terms of these justices to something more reasonable for 1 person to have sway in our nation. I think 10 or 12 years is reasonable for any one person to have such great authority over our nation. Perhaps we could have some sort of reaffirmation vote on the justices so that those who do not rule according to the original intent of our Constitution could be removed from office. Click here for Newt Gingrich’s discussion of reigning in the judiciary.
I’ve added some helpful resources below to help us become better informed on healthcare reform, religious liberty, and ObamaCare in our nation. The following is taken from an email from the Manhattan Declaration:
The Alliance Defense Fund has created a page of resources to better understand the implications of Obamacare. Visit www.alliancedefensefund.org/obamacare.The Becket Fund is partnering with Catholic and evangelical institutions suing the administration, including Belmont Abbey College and Colorado Christian University. Becket has created HHS Information Central with cases, maps, a timeline, and other resources.The Colson Center has developed a page with regular updates on the religious liberty questions still in play.
As conservative Christians, let us not be discouraged. We need to stay in the game. This is one setback in a much longer contest. We need to let our voices be heard for our sakes and the next generation’s sake.
Related articles
- HHS mandate update (stannecenter.wordpress.com)
- VIDEO: Rep. Gowdy’s Religious Liberty Lesson for Secretary Sebelius (heritage.org)
Politics as Easy as Pie
March 10, 2012 1 Comment
Image via Wikipedia
Politics as Easy as Pie is a talk I’ve listened to from Congressman Bob McEwen. He makes several excellent points. I’ll try to relay some of them here.
The greater the freedom, the greater the wealth; the greater the government, the greater the poverty. Every dollar that you earn increases the choices you can make. When someone takes some of your dollars, you have fewer choices. There are two ways to get money from people, willingly and unwillingly. People part with their money willingly when they see a product or service that is more valuable to them than the money it costs to pay for it. Only two kinds of people can take your money from you unwillingly. One is a crook who points a gun at you and takes what he wants. The other is the government who “points a gun” at you and takes what they want. Countries, states, and cities that have higher tax burden on their citizens have greater poverty. Those that have lower tax burden on their citizens have greater prosperity.
We should limit government to do only what is necessary for it to do. In addition to the reason explained above, government will always be more wasteful in its spending. This is because all government programs involve third-party purchases. Third-party purchases are items bought for other people using other people’s money. If I am buying something for myself with my own money, both price and quality matter. If I am buying something for someone else with my own money, price matters, but quality not so much. If I am buying something for myself with someone else’s money, then quality matters but not price. BUT if I am buying something for someone else with someone else’s money, I do not care about price or quality. This is exactly what government programs involve: third-party purchases. It is one more reason why government should only be involved in those areas in which it is absolutely necessary.
“We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” In our nation life is the first of our unalienable rights. That is not an accident. At the same time we were having our revolution, the French were having one on the other side of the Atlantic. Their three main goals were liberty and equality and fraternity. They started with freedom then equality and then unity or union. We saw the results of this philosophy by the thousands killed by the guillotine. Because of founding of nations on something other than the laws of nature and of nature’s God, we have seen millions die under enforced equality and union. As our nation has lost its moral way we have lost our commitment to the right to life as primary. However, there is some evidence in the large number of pro-life laws passed in the last year that public opinion on this might be turning back around.
If these ideas pique your interest, you might want to hear Congressman McEwen’s talk yourself. Here is a link to his talk brought to you by FamilyTalk. This link takes you to a slightly different version of his talk brought to you by WallBuilders.
Our Godless Constitution?
February 24, 2012 3 Comments
Constitution of the United States of America (page 2) (Photo credit: The U.S. National Archives)
Is the Constitution of the United States a godless document? This idea stems from modernism. Modernism is the belief that the way things are now is the way they have always been. Fortunately that is simply fallacious thinking. Here are a few reasons that show the Founders did not write a godless Constitution.
First of all, the Constitution is not our original founding document. It is based on the Declaration of Independence, which clearly acknowledges God. What is the evidence we can use to see that the Declaration of Independence is our original founding document? Besides its historical significance in breaking our ties with the British monarchy, there are 27 grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence as the reasons we were making that break. Each of those grievances are dealt with and resolved by various clauses in the Constitution. The framers of the Constitution explained that there was a problem/solution relationship between the two.
Here is an example:
Declaration: “He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.”
Constitution: “Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.”
The problem (listed fourth in the Declaration) of King George requiring the colonial legislatures to convene in far away locations is dealt with in Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution. This is just one such example; there are 26 others.
Another reason involves an acknowledgement of God in the text of the Constitution. The attestation clause (VII) reads,
“Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present the seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven and of the independence of the United States of America the twelfth.”
While some might argue that it was simply the convention of the time, the acknowledgement of Jesus Christ (our Lord) in the date, is an example of the intentions of the signers. The numbering of twelve years sets the Declaration as the beginning of the United States; laying the foundation as it were. The Constitution is filling out the form; giving structure to the government of the new nation.
The twelve years mentioned above is another piece of evidence for the Declaration being our founding document. The Declaration of Independence is quite clearly a document that recognizes God’s sovereignty over human governments:
“When in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s
God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness…” (emphasis mine)
There is more evidence that demonstrates that the Constitution was a document acknowledging God. David Barton explains several more in his teaching: God and the Constitution. Please check it out. Read the Constitution and Declaration of Independence for yourself. There’s an app for that! Become informed on the intended structure of our government.
Avoiding the Historical Traps of the Left
September 5, 2011 3 Comments
Image via Wikipedia
Avoiding the Historical Traps of the Left – summarized from WallBuildersLive!
WallBuilders is one of my favorite organizations for informing, encouraging, and equipping Christian conservatives to take back the land. I encourage you to check out their half hour show available in some areas on the radio and online.
“David Barton gives a presentation on avoiding the historic traps of the left. Listen as he presents facts about our nation that you were never taught. What is it about our history that the left doesn’t want us to know? Our nation has Christian roots. When we understand that, we will understand where we come from and where we are going.”
Below is my brief summary of the traps. For a detailed and enjoyable explanation of each one, go listen to the archive of the series of six shows starting August 23, 2011.
1. Poststructuralism – to believe that only groups not individuals give meaning to the whole. This trap makes us consider people not as individuals but as members of groups. They consider everyone on the merits of their group membership. This is coupled with the belief that the Bill of Rights protects the rights of the minority from the rights of the majority not the rights of individuals from an overreaching government.
2. Modernism. Modernism is to use a modern context to interpret any events whether fairly recent or in the distant past. For example, Thomas Jefferson attended church in the Capitol building during his presidency. He even ordered the Marine Corps band to play foe the worship services. Some would look at this through a modern lens and say he misunderstood the Constitution, but it is more likely to say that he understood it, but we’ve grown to misunderstand it now.
3. Academic collectivism. This trap happens when a series or set of academics agree amongst themselves and reference each other’s works to back up their assertions. They rarely, never, or selectively go back to historical documents for fact-finding. Instead they simply cite one another’s work to support their theories. This tends to get away from anything based on history and ends up allowing them to support the agenda of their choosing.
4. Minimalism is the practice of focusing on a tiny subset of what was happening at a time in the past as though that is all that was happening. An example would include saying that we separated from England because of taxation without representation. This is one of the reasons but it is one of 27 reasons. Unfortunately that is probably the only reason most schoolchildren could give today.
5. Deconstructionism a steady stream of negative designed to tear down the positive image in the mind of the people. When the historians and press only focus on negative aspects of the founding era and from founding fathers lives, people are not aware of the positive things and the Christian religious nature of many of their beliefs and actions. It changes our attitude toward our country and its founding.
Again, this was simply my brief summary of the traps. For a detailed and enjoyable explanation of each one, go to the archive of the series of six shows starting August 23, 2011 and listen for yourself.
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