The Shell Game of Corrupted Government Exposed
America, The Land That I Love
John Adams famously explained in his letter to the Massachusetts militia, on October 11, 1798: "Because We have no Government armed with Power capable of contending with human Passions unbridled by morality and religion, avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
In fact, it is religion and morality (virtue) that is necessary to support and sustain our constitutional republic. If we expect to have a "limited government" as the originally-intentioned Constitution created, We the People must be expected to be able to govern ourselves appropriately, and those guidelines come from God's law and from the teachings of Jesus. It is from the Judeo-Christian tenets and teachings that we can clearly and assuredly know the difference between right and wrong and therefore guide our conduct. If a free people are to govern themselves politically, they must first be able to govern themselves morally and effectively.
Our nation's appreciation and adherence to such tenets and teachings continued up until 1962. In that year, the US Supreme Court decided the landmark case of Engel v. Vitale, which declared that school-sponsored prayer is unconstitutional, as being a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The following year, the Supreme Court handed down an equally disastrous ruling. In Abington Township (PA) v. Schempp (1963), the Court declared that Bible readings and the recitation of the Lord's prayer also violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
It was Madalyn Murray O'Hair, an avowed hedonist and atheist activist, who filed numerous lawsuits challenging various laws and government practices based on the issue of 'separation of Church and State,' with one such case eventually making its way to the Supreme Court (consolidating into the Abington v. Schempp case). To understand just how much this woman was despised and how dangerous Americans believed her to be to our critical national institutions, LIFE magazine, in 1964, did a cover story on her and referred to her as "the most hated woman in America. [As a side note, in 1995, O'Hair, her son, and her granddaughter, went missing in their home state of Texas. Rumor has it that she was still so utterly despised that law enforcement didn't even bother to look for her for over a year].
1962-1963 - that's when public schools began to fall apart, that's when society began to degenerate, that's when social morality began to become a thing of the past, that's when violence began to increase, and that's when the incidence of school shootings began to rise (sharply with each succeeding decade).
I remember attending high school from 1974-78 and we still were able to start our days in home room by enjoying a moment of silence in order to pray (or to just contemplate). When I was doing my student teaching in 2012 in the public school system, students began their day watching President Obama on the televisions that were installed in each classroom. Quite a difference, yes?
If there is any confusion or denial of the fact that our country was founded on Judeo-Christian values, one just needs to look at the first and second paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence. Our American Founders staked this country on "self-evident truths" that stem from "the laws of Nature and Nature's God. They did so in order to justify the dedication of America to individual liberty. That is, that liberty comes from our humanity and not from government. If the Declaration is to be believed worldwide, then America's "self-evident truths" are not just unique to our country and to Americans, but they apply to all men and women everywhere. They are as true today as they were in 1776. This universal principle of Liberty and the defense of it is what inspires men and women to enlist in our armed services and to spread and defend it all across the planet. The oath that our enlisted men and women take reads: "I, ____________________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same... "
Americans still believe in these ideals. They are still willing to fight for them, whether as enlisted men and women or as citizen-activists.
Our founding values and founding principles, our founding documents, our nation's devotion to individual Liberty, and our foundations in, and reliance on, religion are just some reasons I love America.
Our government, created and vested with enumerated powers by the US Constitution, was initially unique and self-containing. But we all know that government has been dishonest and scheming over our 230-plus years for the sole purpose of enlarging and consolidating its powers and for taking greater and greater control over our lives, our property, and our livelihoods. If you have any doubt about this inglorious history, try comparing the "facts submitted (by the 13 colonies/states) to a candid world" in the Declaration to support their claim that Great Britain had established "an absolute tyranny" over them to the actions of our current federal government. [For additional arguments to this point, read my article "A RE-DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE," written and posted on my blogsite January 22, 2021 - https://forloveofgodandcountry.com/2021/01/23/a-re-declaration-of-independence/ ]
I love this country because I love its people. They are among the most hard-working, church-going, God-fearing, industrious, affluent, and generous in the world.
Every nation has something to build a spirit of nationalism, to derive meaning and purpose and to stir in its people a sense of patriotism. Examples include a specific ethnic character, a shared history, a shared purpose for existing, a common religion. In the case of America, our sense of patriotism derives from our glorious history (although spotted and stained at times), our love and appreciation of the Declaration of Independence, our shared love and pursuit of liberty, and our appreciation of the US Constitution. In short, our patriotism and our love of country stems from an IDEAL. "We hold these truths 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.-That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness..."
English writer G.K. Chesterton famously observed that "America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed." (which was/is set out brilliantly and clearly in the Declaration of Independence).
The country that I love holds a great promise for all, no matter where they may be, that all men everywhere are endowed at creation - at birth - with an inalienable right to liberty. In fact, it seems that America's role in the world is to preserve and to spread, by example and by action, that "sacred fire of Liberty." I am encouraged by this reality. I am also encouraged at the groundswell of patriotism and the groundswell of activism and protest to defend our Constitution, our precious republic, and our founding values, principles, and institutions. It gives me hope. It is because of our foundational principles and values, not despite them, that America is great in my eyes.
America, for all its faults and its unglorified history, is still the land that I love. I will always love her, I will always praise her, and will always fight for her.
References:
Matthew Spalding, "Why is America Exceptional?", The Heritage Foundation. Referenced at: https://www.heritage.org/american-founders/report/why-america-exceptional
The Declaration of Independence - https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
The Federalist No. 1 (Alexander Hamilton) - https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed01.asp
"John Winthrop's Dream of a City on a Hill, 1630," The American Yawp Reader. Referenced at: https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/colliding-cultures/john-winthrop-dreams-of-a-city-on-a-hill-1630/
Diane Rufino, A RE-DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE," my blogsite (ForLoveofGodandCountry), January 22, 2021. Referenced at: https://forloveofgodandcountry.com/2021/01/23/a-re-declaration-of-independence/ ]
Treaty of Paris (1783) - https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-40-02-0356
George Washington's Farewell Address - https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/Washingtons_Farewell_Address.pdf
John Adams' letter to the Massachusetts militia, October 11, 1789 - https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-3102 and https://oll.libertyfund.org/quote/john-adams-religion-constitution
Go Back
In fact, it is religion and morality (virtue) that is necessary to support and sustain our constitutional republic. If we expect to have a "limited government" as the originally-intentioned Constitution created, We the People must be expected to be able to govern ourselves appropriately, and those guidelines come from God's law and from the teachings of Jesus. It is from the Judeo-Christian tenets and teachings that we can clearly and assuredly know the difference between right and wrong and therefore guide our conduct. If a free people are to govern themselves politically, they must first be able to govern themselves morally and effectively.
Our nation's appreciation and adherence to such tenets and teachings continued up until 1962. In that year, the US Supreme Court decided the landmark case of Engel v. Vitale, which declared that school-sponsored prayer is unconstitutional, as being a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The following year, the Supreme Court handed down an equally disastrous ruling. In Abington Township (PA) v. Schempp (1963), the Court declared that Bible readings and the recitation of the Lord's prayer also violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
It was Madalyn Murray O'Hair, an avowed hedonist and atheist activist, who filed numerous lawsuits challenging various laws and government practices based on the issue of 'separation of Church and State,' with one such case eventually making its way to the Supreme Court (consolidating into the Abington v. Schempp case). To understand just how much this woman was despised and how dangerous Americans believed her to be to our critical national institutions, LIFE magazine, in 1964, did a cover story on her and referred to her as "the most hated woman in America. [As a side note, in 1995, O'Hair, her son, and her granddaughter, went missing in their home state of Texas. Rumor has it that she was still so utterly despised that law enforcement didn't even bother to look for her for over a year].
1962-1963 - that's when public schools began to fall apart, that's when society began to degenerate, that's when social morality began to become a thing of the past, that's when violence began to increase, and that's when the incidence of school shootings began to rise (sharply with each succeeding decade).
I remember attending high school from 1974-78 and we still were able to start our days in home room by enjoying a moment of silence in order to pray (or to just contemplate). When I was doing my student teaching in 2012 in the public school system, students began their day watching President Obama on the televisions that were installed in each classroom. Quite a difference, yes?
If there is any confusion or denial of the fact that our country was founded on Judeo-Christian values, one just needs to look at the first and second paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence. Our American Founders staked this country on "self-evident truths" that stem from "the laws of Nature and Nature's God. They did so in order to justify the dedication of America to individual liberty. That is, that liberty comes from our humanity and not from government. If the Declaration is to be believed worldwide, then America's "self-evident truths" are not just unique to our country and to Americans, but they apply to all men and women everywhere. They are as true today as they were in 1776. This universal principle of Liberty and the defense of it is what inspires men and women to enlist in our armed services and to spread and defend it all across the planet. The oath that our enlisted men and women take reads: "I, ____________________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same... "
Americans still believe in these ideals. They are still willing to fight for them, whether as enlisted men and women or as citizen-activists.
Our founding values and founding principles, our founding documents, our nation's devotion to individual Liberty, and our foundations in, and reliance on, religion are just some reasons I love America.
Our government, created and vested with enumerated powers by the US Constitution, was initially unique and self-containing. But we all know that government has been dishonest and scheming over our 230-plus years for the sole purpose of enlarging and consolidating its powers and for taking greater and greater control over our lives, our property, and our livelihoods. If you have any doubt about this inglorious history, try comparing the "facts submitted (by the 13 colonies/states) to a candid world" in the Declaration to support their claim that Great Britain had established "an absolute tyranny" over them to the actions of our current federal government. [For additional arguments to this point, read my article "A RE-DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE," written and posted on my blogsite January 22, 2021 - https://forloveofgodandcountry.com/2021/01/23/a-re-declaration-of-independence/ ]
I love this country because I love its people. They are among the most hard-working, church-going, God-fearing, industrious, affluent, and generous in the world.
Every nation has something to build a spirit of nationalism, to derive meaning and purpose and to stir in its people a sense of patriotism. Examples include a specific ethnic character, a shared history, a shared purpose for existing, a common religion. In the case of America, our sense of patriotism derives from our glorious history (although spotted and stained at times), our love and appreciation of the Declaration of Independence, our shared love and pursuit of liberty, and our appreciation of the US Constitution. In short, our patriotism and our love of country stems from an IDEAL. "We hold these truths 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.-That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness..."
English writer G.K. Chesterton famously observed that "America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed." (which was/is set out brilliantly and clearly in the Declaration of Independence).
The country that I love holds a great promise for all, no matter where they may be, that all men everywhere are endowed at creation - at birth - with an inalienable right to liberty. In fact, it seems that America's role in the world is to preserve and to spread, by example and by action, that "sacred fire of Liberty." I am encouraged by this reality. I am also encouraged at the groundswell of patriotism and the groundswell of activism and protest to defend our Constitution, our precious republic, and our founding values, principles, and institutions. It gives me hope. It is because of our foundational principles and values, not despite them, that America is great in my eyes.
America, for all its faults and its unglorified history, is still the land that I love. I will always love her, I will always praise her, and will always fight for her.
References:
Matthew Spalding, "Why is America Exceptional?", The Heritage Foundation. Referenced at: https://www.heritage.org/american-founders/report/why-america-exceptional
The Declaration of Independence - https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
The Federalist No. 1 (Alexander Hamilton) - https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed01.asp
"John Winthrop's Dream of a City on a Hill, 1630," The American Yawp Reader. Referenced at: https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/colliding-cultures/john-winthrop-dreams-of-a-city-on-a-hill-1630/
Diane Rufino, A RE-DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE," my blogsite (ForLoveofGodandCountry), January 22, 2021. Referenced at: https://forloveofgodandcountry.com/2021/01/23/a-re-declaration-of-independence/ ]
Treaty of Paris (1783) - https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-40-02-0356
George Washington's Farewell Address - https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/Washingtons_Farewell_Address.pdf
John Adams' letter to the Massachusetts militia, October 11, 1789 - https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-3102 and https://oll.libertyfund.org/quote/john-adams-religion-constitution
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