Category: Separation of Church and State

2.                  The USA Constitution: What it says

This lecture is intended to inform on the basic Constitutional directions  given in defining the government of the United States of America.

The Constitution of The United States of America    1787

http://www.tnz.biz/documents/usa/Constitution_of_The_USA.html

Preamble:
“We the people of the United  States, in Order to form a more perfect* Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and  secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and  establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

* An improvement over the former failed Articles of Confederation

ARTICLE  ONE

Section 1. All* legislative  Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress* of the United States, which  shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

* The Legislative Branch is intended to be the most powerful of the 3 Branches

* It is assumed that the members of this Branch know what the Constitution (Amendments) and Law says – because its members wrote it.

* ALL law is supposed to come out of the Legislative Branch.

Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several  States, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite  for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature.

No Person shall be a Representative  who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an  Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this  Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding  to the whole number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a  Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.  The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by law Direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at  least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State  of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode  Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey  four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina  five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

Section 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled  in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be  vacated at the expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the expiration of the sixthYear,  so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any State,  the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next meeting  of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that  State for which he shall be chosen.

The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

The Senate shall choose their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief  Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.

Judgment in cases of Impeachment  shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to  hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States:  but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment,  Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

Section 4. The Times, Places  and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed  in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by  Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

The Congress shall assemble at least  once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December,  unless they shall by law appoint a different Day.

Section 5. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members,  and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller  Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance  of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may  provide.

Each house may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member.

Each house shall keep a Journal of  its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts  as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members  of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present,  be entered on the Journal.

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.

Section 6. The Senators and  Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained  by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all  Cases, except Treason, Felony* and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going  to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House,  they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

* Felony = A major crime: murder, arson, rape, etc. with minimum imprisonment of 1 year

No Senator or Representative shall,  during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments  whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.*

* This portion prevents conflicts of interest and favoritism in a person who might otherwise hold 2 separate offices, positions in which he could use his action in one position to obtain unfair advantage in and for the other position.

Section 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may  propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

Every Bill which shall have passed  the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law,  be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign  it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which  it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal,  and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that  house shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections,  to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved  by two thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of  the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President  within ten Days (Sundays excepted)* after it shall have been presented to him,  the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which case it shall not be a Law.

* a reference to the Christian “day of rest” – Leviticus 23:3 , Leviticus 23:28, Deuteronomy 15:19, Deuteronomy 16:8, Jeremiah 17:24

* This method of adopting law was intentionally designed to be slow  — in order to check (prevent) hasty actions, that are prone to be not thought-out well and therefore, unwise.

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote  to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary  (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of  the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved  by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the  Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations  prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

Section 8. The Congress shall  have Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States;  but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow Money on the credit of  the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To establish Post Offices and Post Roads;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the  exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of  Marque* and Reprisal*, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

* Letters of  Marque = Authorization for citizens to fit out ships to capture the ships or property of another nation with which it is at war.

* “Reprisal” = Documentation that a ship is not engaged in pirating.

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the  Militia* to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

* Militia = armed private citizens…authorized “conscription”…the “draft”…

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively,  the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the militia according  to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square)  as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become  the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority  over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, Dockyards,  and other needful Buildings;–And

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any  Department or Officer thereof.

Section 9. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand  eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or Duty may be imposed on such Importation,  not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus* shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

* Every citizen must be informed of the crime he is being accused of committing and is being imprisoned for.

No Bill of Attainder*1 or ex post facto*2 Law shall be passed.

*1 “Bill of Attainder” = being declared guilty of an alleged crime without being tried for it

*2  “ex post facto”… “done afterwards”… “after the fact” –  being accused of committing a crime that was not legally defined as a crime at the time you allegedly committed it

No Capitation*, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.

* “Capitation” =  “Head” or “poll” tax – no tax on the individual levied against and on him just because he exists as a citizen.

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another:  nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

No Money shall be drawn from the  Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement  and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published  from time to time.

No Title of Nobility shall be granted  by the United States; and no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument*,  Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

*  “Emolument” = payment received for work.

Section 10. No State shall  enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and  Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver  Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder*, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

*  “Bill of Attainder” = a legislative pronouncement of guilt without a trial.

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws: and the net  Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports,  shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of  Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign  Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

ARTICLE  TWO

Section 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a President* of the United States of America. He shall hold  his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President  chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:

* This Branch was intended to be the second-most powerful of the 3 Branches.

* The President of this Branch is assumed to know what the Constitution and law say because it is his duty is to enforce them – He has to know what they say in order to be able to properly enforce them.

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled  in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

The Electors shall meet in their  respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not lie an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall  make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each;  which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The  President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having  the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority  of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote;  a Quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice.  In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should  remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which  Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years,  and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

In Case of the Removal of the President  from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers  and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President,  and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation  or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer  shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the  Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

The President shall, at stated Times,  receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall  not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

Before he enter on the Execution  of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:–“I do solemnly  swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of  the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and  defend the Constitution of the United States.”*

* “So help me God” – added by George Washington, at the end of saying this oath of office.  This addition has been voiced by most of the later – if not all – Presidents taking this oath.

Section 2. The President shall  be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the  Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United  States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in  each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons  for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of impeachment.

He shall have Power, by and with  the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next session.

Section 3. He shall from time  to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend  to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient;  he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them,  and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment,  he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive  Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be  faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

Section 4. The President,  Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed  from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other  high Crimes and Misdemeanors*

* “Misdemeanors” = “misbehaving”: minor offenses leading to fines or local jailing for less than 1 year.

ARTICLE  THREE

Section 1. The judicial Power* of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges,  both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good  behavior*, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation,  which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

* This Branch was intended to be the least powerful of the 3 Branches – However, it has usurped its bounds and become the most powerful of the 3 Branches – especially since the other 2 Branches have neglected their duty and allowed this usurpation to go uncorrected.

*It is NOT good behavior to:

Usurp its power over the other Branches
“legislate” from the bench
Invent “rights” that are not there
Give higher authority of foreign law over the Constitution

According to this Section 1, Justices which have done any of the above should be removed from the Court.

Section 2. The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases*, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution,  the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under  their Authority;–to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers  and Consuls;–to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;–to Controversies  to which the United States shall be a Party;–to Controversies between two or  more States;–between a State and Citizens of another State;–between Citizens  of different States; –between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under  Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and  foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.

* “Cases” = legal trials in which disagreements and/or uncertainty regarding the interpretation of the Law as it is to apply in new situations/environments which have arrived are argued and decided.

In all cases affecting Ambassadors,  other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party,  the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before  mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate* Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

* “appellate” = having jurisdiction to review appeals and to retry cases raised to this level in the system.

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed  within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress  may by Law have directed.

Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses* to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

* Two (2) witnesses – Deuteronomy 17:6, 18:5

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood*, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

* Protects the relatives of a convicted traitor from being punished for what he did. – Deuteronomy 24:16, II Kings 14:6, II Chronicles 25:4, Ezekiel 18:20

ARTICLE  FOUR

Section 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe  the Manner in which such Acts, Records, and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.

Section 2. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all* Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.

“Hate” crime laws and same sex “marriage” abuse this Section by giving “protected” status to certain groups (historically considered perverted and perverse non-groups) but not to others.

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from  which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

No person held to Service or Labor in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labor,  But shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labor may be due.

Section 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of  any particular State.

Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic  Violence.

ARTICLE  FIVE

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution,  or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall  be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be  proposed by the Congress;* Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of it’s equal Suffrage in the Senate.

* This method of amending the Constitution is designed — and intended — to be long and drawn out so that no big changes are made quickly and easily.

ARTICLE  SIX

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid* against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

* Keep your vows (promises…agreements…commitments ) – Numbers 30:2, Deuteronomy 23:21, Ecclesiastics 5:5

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties  made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall  be the supreme Law of the Land*; and the Judges in every State shall be bound  thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary  notwithstanding.

* Original intent and meaning of the words as they were used and understood at the time the Constitution was written.  The Constitution is NOT a “living” document, in which it can supposedly be “interpreted” in terms of new meanings attached to old words and in terms of new and alien beliefs and principles being “read into” the original beliefs and cultural and political ones.

* ANY dependence upon — or even reference to — foreign law in deciding issues of the Court is UNCONSTITUTIONAL and forbidden.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several  States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution;  but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

ARTICLE  SEVEN

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution  between the States so ratifying the Same.

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 In Witness whereof We have hereunto  subscribed our Names,

* The “Lord” Jesus Christ is the ONLY PERSON in the world and in all of history that corresponds to this reference to a person and a time.

Article 1, Section 7

“Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.” – Leviticus 23:3

“And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.” – Leviticus 23:28

“All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep.” – Deuteronomy 15:19

“Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work therein.” Deuteronomy 16:8

“And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein;” Jeremiah 17:24

Article 3, Section 3

* At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. – Deuteronomy 17:6:

“One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.”- Deuteronomy 19:15
………………………………………

“The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.” – Deuteronomy 24:16

“But the children of the murderers he slew not: according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.” – II Kings 14:6

“But he slew not their children, but did as it is written in the law in the book of Moses, where the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers, but every man shall die for his own sin.” – II Chronicles 25:4

“The soul that sinneth, it shall die.  The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” – Ezekiel 18:20

Article 6

“If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.”- Numbers 30:2

“When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.”- Deuteronomy 23:21

“Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.”- Ecclesiastics 5:5

Article 7

“He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.” – John 1:23

“Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.”- John 6:68

“She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.”- John 11:27

“Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.” – John 13:13

Bill of Rights

http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof*; or abridging the freedom of speech*, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble*, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

* “Separation of church and state” is a false “interpretation” of this Amendment

(See lecture 3 in this series.)

* A “No-speech zone” around “abortion” clinics is UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

*  The “Fairness Doctrine” in which radio programs are required to give time to views with which the programmer disagrees is UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

* Tea Parties, and the Tea Party Movement, are CONSTITUTIONAL.

Amendment II

A well regulated militia*1, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people*2 to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

*1  “militia” = people’s or citizen’s army.

“2 the people” = the general population…

This phrase is NOT making the  nonsense statement that the military is the only party that has “the right to keep and bear arms”.

Amendment III

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

* This Amendment requires the use of Search warrants to search the home and other property of a citizen.

* Your car is an extension of your home.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger*1; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy*2 of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself*3 , nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law*4 ; nor shall private property be taken for public use*5, without just compensation.

*1  Enemy combatants do not have Constitutional rights.

*2  “double jeopardy”

*3  “plead the Fifth” = People don’t have to testify against themselves or their immediate family members.

*4  fair trial

*5  Eminent domain for PUBLIC NEED AND USE ONLY – private property can not be taken from one party and handed over for the PRIVATE USE of another private party.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him*; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

* Anonymous calls to accuse parents of child abuse, etc. are UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

Amendment VII

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people*.

* The PEOPLE – not the federal government – have more rights than the ones mentioned so far.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people*.

* Congress does not have ANY powers that are not specifically mentioned (“delegated”) by the Constitution.  ALL  powers not specifically delegated to Congress remain (“are reserved”) to the states or the people.

* The Federal government is to have NO involvement in:

Education
Health care
income tax
FCC (communication/media)
Other

1. The US Constitution: Its Biblical Design

Robert J. Allen
(Lecture on  6/27/09)

Words come don’t come from out of a vacuum.  They come from the belief system, and the related concerns, and goals of the person (people) who wrote them.  We are here to talk about the Constitution of the USA.  So, what was the belief system of the people who wrote the words in and of the Constitution?

Let’s let them answer this question themselves.  There are literally hundreds of quotations they left us.  So it is easy to determine what their belief system was.  I give you here only a tiny representative sample of what is part of a huge public record.  If you want more quotations, they are easy to find.  If you desire help in obtaining these, we at Starkville Tea Party can supply hundreds, and can give you sources and references to acquire even more.

Representative quotations:

America is based on Christianity

“The highest story of the American Revolution is this: it  connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government  with the principles of Christianity.” – President John Adams

“[T]he religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His apostles… This is genuine Christianity and to this we owe our free constitutions of government.”

[O]ur citizens should early understand that the genuine source of correct republican principles is the Bible, particularly the New Testament, or the Christian religion.133

“[T]he Christian religion… is the basis, or rather the source, of all genuine freedom in government… I am persuaded that no civil government of a republican form can exist and be durable in which the principles of Christianity have not a controlling influence.”
– Noah Webster: Revolutionary soldier; judge; legislator; educator; “Schoolmaster to America”

“The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.” – John Adams, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson, June 28, 1813, reprinted in The Adams-Jefferson Letters,ed. Lester J. Cappon (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1959), vol 2, pp. 339-40.

“The Holy Ghost carries on the whole Christian system in this earth. Not a baptism, not a marriage, not a sacrament can be administered but by the Holy Ghost. . . . There is no authority, civil or religious – there can be no legitimate government but what is administered by this Holy Ghost. There can be no salvation without it. All without it is rebellion and perdition, or in more orthodox words damnation”.

“In the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.” – John Quincy Adams – Sixth President of the United States; diplomat; secretary of state; US Senator; US Representative; “old man eloquent”; “hell-hound of abolition”

“There is a universal language pervading [these examples], having one meaning; they affirm and reaffirm that this is a religious nation. These are not individual  sayings, declarations of private persons: they are organic utterances; they speak the voice of the entire people. . . . These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian  nation.” – U.S. Supreme Court 1892, Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 U.S. 457, 9-10.

“Our laws and institutions must necessarily be based upon  and embody the teaching of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that is should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent  our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian . . . this is a Christian nation.” – US Supreme Court, 1892

“The Bible is the Rock on which this Republic rests.” – President  Andrew Jackson

“America was born a Christian nation.” – President Woodrow Wilson, 1911

“[T]his is a Christian Nation. More than a half century ago that declaration was written  into the decrees of the highest court in this land. It is not without  significance that the valiant pioneers who left Europe to establish settlements here, at the very beginning of their colonial enterprises, declared their faith in the Christian religion and  made ample provision for its practice and for its support. The story of the Christian missionaries who in earliest days endured perils,  hardship–even death itself in carrying the message of Jesus Christ to untutored savages is one that still moves the hearts of men.” – Harry S. Truman, in a letter to Pope Pius XII, August  6, 1947, from the papers of Myron Taylor in the Harry S. Truman Library.

“Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” – U.S. Chief Justice John Jay

To Abandon our Christian base is Commit National Suicide

“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.” – America’s God and Country (10-11), (John Adams, 1798 – Address to the militia of Massachusetts), Signer of the Declaration of Independence; judge; diplomat; one of two signers of the bill of rights; second President of the United States

(Only Christianity, with its REAL God and with His help to us through His Word, His love, His indwelling Holy Spirit, and other benefits only Christianity provides, enables people to control [or “bridle”] our selfish, self-centered, short-term-oriented passions.  And in an open and free system such as our Constitution provides, non-Christian people will not exercise the self-control that is needed to support and preserve such a system.  Also, non-Christian people will claim – and even demand – the exercise of “rights” that God did not give.  We can see this is true and happening all around us as more and more non-Christian citizens claim rights to murder their own unborn, practice sodomy, divorce their spouses, and more.  John Adams warned us in this quote that our Constitution is not able to govern such people and if there are too many of them who are claiming to many false “rights”, the government will self-destruct under the weight of their unchecked immoral license. )

How do we know what rights we have? Samuel Adams and others answered this:

“…the right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty…’The Rights of the Colonists as Christians’…may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutes of the great Law Giver…which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament.” – Samuel Adams, “Rights of the Colonists”, 1772

“We’ve staked the whole future of American civilization not on the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us . . . to Govern ourselves according to the commandments of God. The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this Constitution is founded.” – President James Madison

“Nothing is more certain than that a general profligacy and corruption of manners make a people ripe for destruction. A good form of government may hold the rotten materials together for some time, but beyond a certain pitch, even the best constitution will be ineffectual, and slavery must ensue.” – The Selected Writings of John Witherspoon, Miller ed. (140-1),  (John Witherspoon, 1776, The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men)

“[N]either the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt.”  – The Life and Public Service of Samuel Adams, William Wells, vol. 1 (22), (Samuel Adams, 1749 – essay in The Public Advertiser)

“The fundamental basis of this nation’s law was given to  Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teaching we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don’t think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don’t have the proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in the right for anybody except the state.”  – President  Harry S. Truman

“And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever.” –  Our Sacred Honor, Bennett (352), (Thomas Jefferson, 1781 – Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 18)

(Our dumbed-down Atheistic public schools and Universities, our liberal media, and our liberal churches have nearly succeeded in “removing God as the basis of our liberties”)

“The philosophy of the school room in one generation will  be the philosophy of government in the next.” – Abraham Lincoln.

“The only assurance of our nation’s safety is to lay our foundation in morality and religion.”- Abraham Lincoln.

“It is extremely important to our nation , in a political as well as religious view , that all possible authority and influence should be given to the scriptures, for these furnish the best principles of civil liberty , and the most effectual support of republican government. The principles of all genuine liberty, and of wise laws and administrations are to be drawn from the Bible and sustained by it’s authority. The man therefore who weakens or destroys the divine authority of that book may be accessory to all the public disorders which society is doomed to suffer….” – Noah Webster

“The Hand of providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations.” – The Writings of George Washington, Fitzpatrick, ed., vol. 12 (343),  (George Washington, 1778 – letter to Thomas Nelson)

“Before any man can be considered as a member of civil society,  he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe.  And to the same Divine Author of every good and perfect gift [James 1:17] we are indebted for all those privileges and advantages, religious as well as civil, which are so richly enjoyed in this favored land.”
— James Madison

(No free government can exist if Christianity is not the predominate worldview and ideology of the land.)

“No free government now exists in the world, unless where Christianity is acknowledged, and is the religion of the country. Christianity is part of the common law.  Its foundations are broad and strong and deep.  It is the purest system of morality and only stable support of all human laws.” – Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 1824

(Miscellaneous Quotations)

“The morality of the country is deeply ingrafted upon Christianity, and not upon the doctrines or worship of other religions.  In people whose manners are refined, and whose morals have been elevated and inspired with a more enlarged benevolence, it is by means of the Christian religion.” – United States Supreme Court, 1811
– http://www.shalomjerusalem.com/heritage/heritage10.html

“The American population is entirely Christian, and with us Christianity and Religion are identified. It would be strange indeed, if with such a people, our institutions did not presuppose Christianity, and did not often refer  to it, and exhibit relations with it.” -John Marshall, in a letter to Jasper Adams, May 9, 1833, in JSAC, p. 139. Marshall was Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1801-1835.

“The morality of the country is deeply ingrafted upon Christianity, and not upon doctrines or worship of other religions.” – United States Supreme Court, 1892
– http://www.shalomjerusalem.com/heritage/heritage10.html

“The great vital and conservative element in our system is the belief of our people in the pure doctrines and divine truths of gospel of Jesus Christ.” – US House Judiciary Committee, 1854

“There is no country in  the whole world, in which the Christian religion retains a greater  influence over the souls of men than in America: and there can be  no greater proof of its utility, and of its conformity to human nature, than that its influence is most powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth.” – Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1835 (New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, n.d.), vol 1, p.294.

“Christianity is not the legal religion of the State, as established by law. If it were, it would be a civil or political institution, which it is not; but this is not inconsistent with the idea that it is in fact, and ever  has been, the religion of the people. This fact is everywhere prominent in all our civil and political history, and has been, from the first, recognized and acted upon by the people, as well as by constitutional conventions, by legislatures and by courts of justice.” – The New York Supreme Court, 1860,  in Lindenmuller  v. The People, 33 Barbour 561.

“”We have been the recipients  of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. . . . We have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!” – Abraham Lincoln, “Proclamation Appointing a National Fast Day,” March 30, 1863, reprinted in The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, ed. Roy P. Basler (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953),  vol. 6, p. 156.

“Among the features peculiar to the political system of the United States, is the perfect equality of rights which it secures to every religious sect.” – Our Sacred Honor, Bennett, pg. 333 (James Madison, 1820 – letter to Jacob de la Motta)

(“Sect” = denomination of Christianity)

The Declaration elucidates “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.” It also records “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…”

“I have examined all religions, as well as my narrow sphere, my straightened means, and my busy life, would allow; and the result is that the Bible is the best Book in the world.” – President John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson, Dec. 25, 1813

We see then that there is no honest doubt or confusion as to what the great majority of Americans and their leaders believed at this time. They believed Christianity and designed the nation around the teachings of Christianity*

(* Yes, Liberals, leftists, Secularists, etc. have some very few statements that they claim are quotes of notable people that contradict these quotes.  The one from the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli, and attributed to George Washington, is probably the most common of these. [“The government of the United States is in no sense founded on the Christian religion”] This ONE QUOTE is said, by those who use it, to counter and cancel out all the HUNDREDS OF QUOTATIONS above and that could be cited.  There are several indications both that this particular quote is not a legitimate quotation of George Washington or that the treaty itself is even historically accurate and honest.)

What are some of those Christian beliefs?

Christianity Compared to All Other Ideologies

Item                                  Christianity                                           Other

1.God                                 Holy & All-knowing –                               fallible –
worthy to be loved/obeyed/followed          to be feared, placated

2. Nature of man               A sinner                                                    good

3. Status Among Men     all men created equal –                         natural inequality of man
in sight of God and the Law

4. Rights                          Rights-                                                        Privileges –                                     Unalienable:cannot be lost of even given up                                                                                                        can be lost, taken away
5.      Life                          Sacred                                                      Common, not “special”

6.      Liberty                      Freedom/free men                                      slavery

7.    Pursuit of Happiness        Self-realization                Labor for “masters”

8. Property             Private Ownership                 Group/State Ownership

9. Government         to serve and secure rights             to control people –
endowed by the Creator             to be served by the people

10.                Based on consent                 Based on power
of the governed                    over the governed

11. Leadership         freely chosen by citizens             Forced/imposed  upon citizens

12.                limited powers                Unlimited powers

13. Individual         Has independent,                Has value according
innate value                to his contribution to the state

14.                Superior to state                inferior to state

15. Constitution         Covenant – Voluntary contract
between parties
Republican form of gov            Tyranny
Law is king                    King is law

16. religion            voluntary                    Involuntary

Biblical References (for the above)

1. God knows all things and therefore is qualified to tell us what to do and how to do it.

Romans 11:
33: O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
34: For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
35: Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
36: For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Col:2:
2: That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
3: In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

2. Man is a sinner –

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
(Jeremiah 17:9)
“For all have sinned”.(Romans 3:23)

3. God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34)

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free male nor female all are one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28)

4 “…have dominion…” (Genesis 1:28,29)

5. Each human life is sacred –

LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.

Life = freedom and safety of the innocent from being murdered

“Thou shalt not kill.( Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17)

“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19)

6. Liberty = freedom to do the good that the individual freely chooses to do.

“And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him.” (Acts 24:23)

“Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.” (Acts 26:32)

“And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself.” (Acts 27:3)

“Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” (Romans 8:21)

“The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.” (I Corinthians 7:39)

“But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.” (I Corinthians 8:9)

“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (II Corinthians 3:17)

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1)

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13)

“As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.”  (I Peter 2:16)

7. Pursuit of Happiness = The opportunity to attempt to achieve that which brings good and personal fulfillment and satisfaction

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

8. “Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15)

“Thou shalt not covet” (Exodus 20:17)

9. Government is necessary

“…the way wherein the people must walk, and the work that they must do” (Exodus 18:20)

“Be thou for the people…” (Exodus 18:19)
“…minister of God for thee…” to restrain evil and reward good (Romans 13: 3,4)

“In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 17:6)

“In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”(Judges 21:25)

10.  Based on consent    of the governed

11. Right to choose leaders

“…rulers of thousands…hundreds…fifties…tens…hard causes…Moses…small matters…themselves (Exodus 18:19- 26)

12. Limited powers

13.  Innate value of individual

14. Individual superior to the state

15. Covenant = Constitution

“The Lord made a covenant with them” (Genesis 15:18)

16. Freedom of religion

Freedom to be and do wrong.

“ Whosoever will may come” vs, “let him go”…not, “everyone must come”

We in this Christian nation may think these positions are typical of religions throughout the world and one of two of them can be found in one or more religions.  But no religion has all of these and many religions have none of them.  We tend to think these positions are rather common throughout the world – and in some places they are common — NOW – but that is only because of the influence and impact America has had upon the world since its founding.  But history shows that many of these ideas and positions did not exist anywhere in the world – they were literally political “inventions” – just like the cotton gin and the assembly line were among the many inventions of Americans.

Let John Adams speak to us again:
“But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American
war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments, of their duties and obligations…This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution.” – The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, Bernard Bailyn (160), (John Adams, 1818 – letter to H. Niles)

“In Europe, charters of liberty have been granted by power. America has set the example . . . of charters of power granted by liberty. This revolution in the practice of the world, may, with an honest praise, be pronounced the most triumphant epoch of its history, and the most consoling presage of its happiness.” – Advice to My Country, Mattern ed. (20); original Papers of John Madison, vol. 14 (191), (John Madison,1792 – National Gazette Essay)

“Noble Experiment”

Many people in all nations recognized that this new “American” view of man and politics was the best way to look at man and the best way to treat man.  But none of these people or nations had ever politically WANTED to, or even TRIED to, treat their citizens according to this view or this way.  And they were skeptical that a nation could have a government treat its people this way and survive.  Therefore, what America set out to do, in binding down power with the chains of a written constitution, in seeking  to prevent the excesses of government in order to protect the human dignity necessary for individuals to realize the full potential of their lives, and to be “of the people, by the people and for the people.” was considered to be an “experiment”… a  “noble” and unique experiment.
(And yes, we did not try this experiment consistently with our own ideals and view of man.  A powerful group of inconsistent and/or non-Christian politicians obstructed and interfered with these ideals to the point that the nation often violated our own beliefs with our practice of slavery, our unequal treatment of women and no voting rights, our failure to protect children from abusive practices – and of course our biggest and worst violation of all today with our murder of our own unborn children.)

We are familiar today with the protest many register in saying such things as, “Don’t push your religion on me.” … “Religion is personal – keep it out of public/political discussion.”

This type of complaint/protest is actually a shallow attempt by the speaker to “push his religion on(to)” the person he is talking to.  It is shallow attempt because, private beliefs are not – and cannot – be separated from all areas and levels of life.

Our forefathers did not keep religion out of public/political discussion – if they HAD, we would not have America.  Why think we should keep it out…, and how can we KEEP America if we DO keep it out?

A lot of people – even Christian people — think citing Bible verses like I have been doing  is “preaching”, and are uncomfortable with that.  They are sensitive to the general Secular trend of avoiding appearing “too religious” in public.  These people do not realize that the Bible is just as much a valid source of information on all aspects of life as is any other source they do not feel awkward referring to in public.  They don’t realize or won’t take a stand on the fact that the Bible provides more than any other source, THE basic information man has to start with in all his endeavors. To teach anything contrary to what the Bible teaches is to “preach” falsehoods.

This “embarrassment of the Bible and of open Christian endorsement” is the new way of thinking.  It is not the way it was understood to be only a couple generations ago.  This new way of thinking has been persuaded upon this nation primarily by the dumbing down of our public school system and by the misrepresentation of the facts of our Christian history.   As a result of this dumbing down and this teaching of outright falsehoods, now, many people are so uninformed and misinformed on and about the Bible, and It’s influence on the USA, that they are impatient with, and think a person is being unreasonable, unrealistic, outright unhistorical, and even a religious nut and wacko to insist that the Bible was important in our past, and is still important in our present.  In other words, if you talk like our forefathers did when they were building America, you are a “religious nut”.  But our forefathers had not been “dumbed down” like many of us (especially those under 30) today.  So, they realized, and informed Christians today realize, that the Bible is the “SOP”, “life- manual” for all day-to-day matters.  It should be read,  not just “devotionally” for its “spiritual” teachings, but pragmatically and practically for It’s concrete “How-to” information in all areas and levels of life.  They, and many of us today, know that if you want to do something “right”, do it God’s way.

Christianity introduced a whole new way of thinking about man, government, society, science, economics, history, and all things.

Acts 17:
1: Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
2: And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
3: Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
4: And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
5: But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
6: And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;
7: Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.
8: And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.
9: And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.
10: And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11: These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
12: Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.
13: But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people.

God has determined how long and where each nation shall exist

“…every nation standing before the throne.”  (Revelation 7:9)

“And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;”
(Acts 17:26)

“We shall not fight alone. “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religion but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We shall not fight  alone. God presides over the destinies of nations, and will raise up friends  for us.  The battle is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant,  the active, the brave . . . Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, ALMIGHTY GOD! Give me liberty or give me death!” – Patrick Henry in a speech March 23, 1775. to the Constitutional Convention

Including America.

“Everything that is right or natural pleads for separation.  The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature cries, ‘tis time to part.’ Even the distance at which the Almighty has placed England and America is a strong and natural proof that the authority of the one over the other was never the design of Heaven.  The time, likewise, at which the continent was discovered adds weight to the argument, and the manner in which it was peopled increases the force of it.  The Reformation was preceded by the discovery of America, as if the Almighty graciously meant to open a sanctuary to the persecuted in future years, when home should afford neither friendship nor safety.”  – Thomas Paine, Common Sense, p. 27

How did their Christian beliefs affect how our founders set up the government of this nation?

The Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence is a Christian-based document..

Statements of Direct Christian Teaching and Reference in the Declaration

“… a decent respect to the opinions of man…”
No respecter of persons –
“…give an answer to every man…”

“…God…”
God is real
= THIS ELIMINATED ATHEISM

“…Nature’s God…
– the God Who created nature.

“We hold these truths…”
– Truth exists… reality is real (not illusion), nature is internally consistent, facts are real, discovery and knowledge (Science) are possible.  EVERYTHING IS NOT RELATIVE
= THIS ELIMINATED HINDUISM, etc.

“…self-evident…”
– accurate, logical, rational thinking is possible

“…created…”
– Not evolved (not self-generated)
= THIS REDUCED ALL THE POSSIBLE RELIGIONS DOWN TO JUST JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM

“…all men are created equal…”
Created man with “equal” status to each other (in the sight of God and the Law)
= JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY – THIS ELIMINATED ISLAM

God is involved in the affairs of man –
THIS ELIMINATED DEISM (Deism teaches that God created a big “machine” universe, “wound” it up, and then “walked” away from it, to no longer be involved in it) these, “life, liberty, pursuit of happiness”

“…they are endowed…”
– From God to man.

“… rights…”
– NOT “privileges”

“…CERTAIN…”“AMONG these”
– we possess more than the 3 rights mentioned.

“… unalienable…”
Part of the “package” of each individual “human being”
Cannot “lose” or even give these rights up

“We…appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world…with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence…”
God protects and intervenes in behalf of individuals who can KNOW Him, trust Him, and depend on Him.

“…to secure these rights governments are instituted among men…”
The Constitution defined the type of government that would ensure the rights the Creator endowed were freely exercised in this new nation.

The Declaration of Independence is the charter of America

Charter =
1. A document issued by a sovereign, legislature, or other authority, creating a public or private corporation, such as a city, college, or bank, and defining its privileges and purposes.

3. A document outlining the principles, functions, and organization of a corporate body; a constitution: the city charter.

7. A written instrument given as evidence of agreement, transfer, or contract; a deed.

– The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

“The Declaration of Independence…[is the] declaratory charter of our rights, and the rights of man.” – The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Lipscomb and Bergh, eds.,15:200.(Thomas Jefferson, 1819 – letter to Samuel Adams Wells)

The Constitution is an extension/application of the Declaration of Independence.

Even though He is not specifically named,  by virtue of being the follow-up of what the Declaration announced, the Constitution is an extension/application of the Declaration and therefore God is INFERRED in, and throughout, the Constitution, just as much as He is DIRECTLY named in the Declaration

“Of course, the Constitution is subordinate to the Declaration of Independence. The Constitution’s author, James Madison, wrote Thomas Jefferson on 8 February 1825 these words concerning the supremacy of the Declaration of Independence over our nation’s Constitution: “On the distinctive principles of the Government… of the U. States, the best guides are to be found in… The Declaration of Independence, as the fundamental Act of Union of these States.” – U.S. Chief Justice John Jay

Next week, in Lecture 2 of this series, we will see a little on  how our founders Christian beliefs affected how they wrote the Constitution and set up thereby the government of this nation.

Thank you