Our Current Political System- Three Courses of Action Left

Politician:  noun \ˌpä-lə-ˈti-shən\  Someone who is active in government usually as an elected official

For as long as there have been communities of people, there have been politicians.  The Bible talks about one such politician in Genesis. A guy named Nimrod, who was in fact described as a mighty hunter, he was also a mighty man whose kingdom began as Babel and other towns, in the land of Shinar.  It was at Babel when the first arrogance of man towards God took place and the Lord confused the people, gave them different languages and scattered them.

Aristotle once said, “Politicians also have no leisure, because they are always aiming at something beyond political life itself, power and glory, or happiness.”

We’ve all heard Mark Twain’s truthful little ditty, “Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason.” And then there was when he said, “Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.”

So what are we to make of our current political scene, other than anger or frustrated amusement?

It’s not as if corruption, power trips and egos are a modern symptom of politics. Our Founding fathers had much to say about politics, politicians and gave us warnings about the institutions of government.

James Madison articulated, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.” Samuel Adams remarked “He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of this country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man….The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy this gift of Heaven, let us become a virtuous people.”

John Adams said, “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.”

One phrase I hear often is that we can’t legislate morality.  When I hear it from libertarian friends they mean it as an argument that focusing on social issues is giving in to big government. When I hear it from liberals, they mean personal liberties trump all else; if it feels good do it and it’s not the government’s job to interfere in personal choices, except to pay for it.

Social issues have been a part of politics for ages. People and government will always use arguments to push one agenda or the other.  Somewhere along the line, our government has been given power to issue licenses for sacred bonds such as marriage, determine what makes up a family, determine when life is sacred or not, and who pays for the ending of life through acts such as abortion.

We question our government, and complain about people who keep electing the same career politicians who keep the government well fed and growing, yet claim we can’t legislate morality.  The only way we can begin to change things in Washington is when we change things in our own hearts and attitudes towards what morality is, and which morality our nation was built on. There is a growing number of people who deny America’s Christian heritage, and while some, very few, of the founders were deists, they all had a sense of morality and God’s law. Atheists and other “separation” groups can argue all they want, but evidence is clear in the works of the founders, writings, etchings and inscribed verses throughout our nation’s capital and in each State’s Constitution.

 

The Founders knew the rule in which to compare society’s morality to, and knew that only a moral society could and would obey and uphold our Constitutional law. The fact is our government is immoral because much of our society is immoral.

What about our Constitution anyway? What is the big deal about that old document? That old document is the law which binds our government and which dictate to our government the freedoms that the citizens of this country have. Our God given inherent rights which no government or man can take away, such as the freedom to worship (or not) freedom of expression and speech, freedom to defend ourselves and a myriad of others which have over the last century been slowly been slipping away.

Patrick Henry called it liberty when he spoke, "When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: Liberty, sir, was the primary object." And again when he warned, "The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them."

Thomas Jefferson said, "The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object." 

For far too long the people have been lulled into complacency by those they place in rule over us, and have either forgotten, or never been taught their Constitution, except for special twisting of it by our politicians.

Again, morality played a part while the Amendments to the Bill of Rights have been twisted so that the right to abortion is a Constitutional right under the 14^th Amendment, the right for illegal immigrants to have anchor babies because of the 10^th Amendment and the rights of people to remove Christian symbols and prayer from public places because of the 1^st Amendment. 

James Monroe said it well, "It is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt, when they degenerate into a populace, that they are incapable of exercising their sovereignty."

Our sovereignty, our society and our Constitutional rights are in more danger of being destroyed than at any other time in our history.  The fact that our elected politicians can feel free to ignore the will of the people is because they know most people are angry but not angry enough to do anything but keep reelecting them.  They know that they have the power to keep offering the lesser of two evils to the people, and the people have voted time and again to accept that meager choice.

Americans deserve better than that. Those who have fought and defended this country deserve so much better than what we’ve allowed to happen within our government.

There are a lot of sincere, but ignorant people who have no idea what they’re going to lose should the present crisis continue to grow along with an immoral government.  There are also still patriots willing to fight within the system to make a difference. It seems however that the chances of victory within the Republican Party are getting between slim and none as we have seen a new Congress which was voted in less than two months ago and already began business as usual on the first day of the 114^th Congress.

Out of 408 members, only 28 voted for the Constitution instead of their own gains and the rest reelected the same Speaker who has ignored conservatives in his own party and most of the republican base.  This reminds me again of Samuel Adams when he warned, “If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.”

When the Founders and others pledged their lives to fight the tyranny of the British, there was a very small number who stood with them. It seems to be the case in our day as well.  Some who read this may wonder what the solution is, and some may think they know it already.  Many may not agree, but we must remember the nation as it was founded. We need to remember our heritage and the words of Psalm 33:12, blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.

Thomas Paine once observed, “The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. Where, some say, is the king of America? I’ll tell you, friend, He reigns above.” He reigns above, but we have also been one nation under His rule.  We have a choice people. William Penn said it best when he declared, “Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants.”

We have been witnessing a creeping tyranny in this country for the past few decades. Like anything with momentum behind it, it will gain speed and strength if it’s not stopped. We have two courses, perhaps three left to us to save this country. We need a change of hearts or we will never have a change in Washington. We need an awakening and revival.  I will write more on that in the next week as time allows.

 

Another course is the same which our Founders faced and avoided until every petition and recourse had been exhausted. This country survived and was born out of the Revolution but we as a nation barely survived the Civil War.  Another revolution is the absolute last course.

Daniel Webster once warned us to, “Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster, and what has happened once in 6000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.”

We’ve seen the effects of our government’s disregard of our Constitution, as well as actions and inactions around the Middle East over the past 6 years.  We’ve seen the high toll not only of too many brave American troops, but also to thousands of Christians, Kurds and Muslim minorities.

It’s been no good trying to distinguish between political parties, as too many within the Republican establishment have allowed a pen toting pResident to do whatever he desires and just for reminders, this man campaigned on a promise to transform America.

 

The only transformation America needs now is to take the road that so many have been resisting.  We’ve come to the destination and the time and place is now for a third party.

CAE 2015