On Saturday, during the Founding Truth radio program that I co-host, we read the text of the Declaration of Independence in celebration of Independence Day. I referred to the Declaration of Independence as America's Birth Certificate. In the chat room, a listener quipped, if the Delaration of Independence is America's Birth Certificate, then the U.S. Constitution is America's instruction manual. Problem is, there are people that erroneously believe the Constitution is to be interpreted, rather than applied.
The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution are written in plain English. You don't need to be a lawyer to understand them. In fact, many of us understand those documents more than any lawyer - because we take the time to read them. They were written this way for a reason; because they were written for the people.
When one reads the two documents, an abundance of things become clear. The founders were men of God. They may, or may not, have been akin to what would be today's fundamental Christian. They may, or may not, have all been closely involved with their respectable churches. They did, however, with no doubt in my mind, believe that what they were accomplishing was inspired. The fingerprints of God are spread throughout these documents.
Freedom is based on the Judeo-Christian belief that God gave us the inalienable right of free will. Right, and wrong, exists, and without standards, we tend to do the wrong thing. But, we have the free will to make right, or wrong, decisions. It is our ability to reason that returns us, normally, to the right path, when our moral, God-given standards are applied.
Knowing that mankind is inherently power hungry, the founding fathers divided power in our government as much as they could. They realized that men with too much power takes away the freedoms of the populace. Power corrupts, and there needed to be safeguards against the lust for power by men.
The U.S. Constitution is the instruction manual they wrote to keep this land free, and to keep that kind of power under control. The federal government is limited by the U.S. Constitution. In Article 1, Section 8, the allowances for the federal government are given. In section 10, what the states cannot do are given. Anything else is automatically a state issue. The U.S. Constitution, and capitalism, has made this nation exceptional, and prosperous, for 233 years. If such a system is so successful, then why would anyone wish to change it?
The People. That is what America is for. Not an overpowering, controlling, socialist government.
Governments in all other countries have come and gone, and have changed more often than Houdini escaped from deadly safes and contraptions. America's government has weathered the times. We are nothing like the governments in Europe for a reason - and it is that difference that has made this nation unique, exceptional, and the greatest nation ever to grace God's green Earth.
The question is, are we as dedicated to liberty as the signers of that Declaration of Independence were? Are we willing to defend our freedom to the end. Are we willing to make that kind of pledge?
The final sentence of the Declaration of Independence reads: And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
By Douglas V. Gibbs
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