By Douglas V. GibbsWhen Alexis de Tocqueville visited the United States in the 1830s, the scene the European encountered was confusing to him. The politicians prayed, the pastors were willing to preach on politics from a Biblical viewpoint, and neither group tried to exert control over the other. They were symbiotic, and as a result, the nation was good. The people were virtuous, and the standards of society, and in the body politic, were largely followed.
In Britain the Church of England, with the king set up as head of the church, dominated the society, dictating the interests of the church, and the demands of the king, with an iron fist. In France, after the French Revolution, the Jacobins strove for a more secular society, where government disallowed the church to have any involvement in the body politic, in an attempt to keep any vestige of religious worship inside the four walls of the church. The result was chaos, out of control statism, and a suppression of religious freedoms. In many of the other European nations the Catholic Church exerted control, being overly influential in the workings of the nation. In the Barbary States of North Africa religion and the state were one and the same. Islam ran their governments through the strict decision making of the religious leaders, through a tyrannical authoritarian system that demanded compliance not only for the sake of their society, but as a requirement of salvation.
Each system governed using extreme agendas. Either the government ruled over the people and their religion, the religion ruled over society and the system of governance, or the two were merged into one authoritarian system. America limited the federal government through the chains of the U.S. Constitution, reining in the powers of the governmental system to only those necessary to protect, promote, and preserve the union. All other authorities were reserved to the States. Religion, though not a controlling factor as it was in the European nations where Catholicism or The Church of England dominated people's lives, was a very important part of the American experiment. Each session of Congress began with a prayer. A holiday of thanksgiving to The Lord had been established. The politicians even campaigned on their religious views as moral individuals. The laws of the United States found their foundation in the Ten Commandments. The people believed that the United States had been conceived through divine providence, and the government was expected to keep its hands off the people's God-given rights. Yet, there was no religious litmus test allowed. One could be a member of any religion, or of no religion at all, and serve in the halls of government.
Benjamin Franklin commented that Freedom was only possible through a virtuous people. John Adams commented that, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." Ronald Reagan during the late twentieth century indicated that "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction." These men understood that a people must remain virtuous to hold on to liberty, and they must fight to maintain that moral structure.
Our moral and virtuous nature as a nation has been dwindling, and that fact became evident as we watched the events surrounding the Occupy Wall Street movement unfold.
The Obama administration desired an answer to the TEA Party, and they thought that the Occupy Movement was it. The Democrat Party, and much of the media, embraced the occupiers, but it didn't take long to see how unlike the TEA Party this new movement for change truly was.
While the TEA Party respected local authorities, and left their event locations cleaner than they had been when the rally-goers arrived, the Occupy Movement was a stark contrast. The unwillingness of the authorities to stop the disruptions of people's lives by the occupiers through trespassing, vandalism, and violence left people believing that somehow, because of their liberal left leanings, the Occupy crowd was getting preferential treatment. Such immunity for a group claiming to represent 99 percent of the population, when indeed they didn't, was unprecedented, and it seemed as if they could get away with just about any ridiculous action against normal legal standards.
The immoral activities of the occupiers, and their cry for democracy, a system the Founding Fathers proclaimed was dangerous and short-lived, revealed to us how serious our downward spiral into moral declivity truly was. The movement was a mob, calling for mob rule. The democrats welcomed such a concept. If you can't beat your opposition through ideas and policies, perhaps they could silence their conservative counterparts through being loud and violent.
Statism has not been able to break through America's moral standards. The democrats want a system very different from what was created in the Constitutional Convention, regardless of the vote of the people, regardless of the rule of law as set forth by the United States Constitution, and regardless of any standards in place be they by law, or morality.
In San Francisco, when the Occupy Movement mob smashed the plate-glass window of a small business shop, the owner put up some plywood to replace the glass, and the mob wrote graffiti on his plywood. The consequences? None for the mob, but a citation for the shop owner for not removing the graffiti.
This is what our system is becoming. We are rewarding the immoral, the violent, and those that wish to destroy America as founded.
It is up to us to uphold America's standards, and not allow this kind of madness to happen. After all, our rights, our standards, and the philosophies in the U.S. Constitution are nothing more than ideas, and ink on paper, if we don't fight for them.
The authorities cannot maintain law and order without our support. The body politic will not follow the standards unless we are willing to follow our own standards, and then hold the politicians accountable for following theirs. If we abandon our standards, the government ignores their standards, and the law enforcement agencies begin to look the other way when people like those in the Occupy Movement take a crap on a police car, or vandalize private property, then we are welcoming a one way path into a world of lawlessness and barbarism.
The American standards of decency and virtuous behavior begin at home, with the parents, in the family unit, of whom the rapidly growing governmental system mocks, and strives to destroy.
The American standards of decency and virtuous behavior begin at home, with the parents, in the family unit, of whom the rapidly growing governmental system mocks, and strives to destroy.
Virtue and morality is an intangible nature of a civilization, without which the tangibles fail to function properly, and the structure of government, and society, crumbles.
When standards deteriorate, disorder follows. Tyranny rises. Authoritarianism takes advantage of the society. Government will try to force religious organizations to go against their moral standards, such as the recent story where a bill is in the works to force churches to conduct gay weddings. Regardless of whether or not a group thinks that homosexuality has been justified, is it a part of America's system of liberty for that group to force organizations to perform their ceremonies, even if the religious organization disagrees on moral grounds? Should one group be able to force another to literally change the definition of language in regards to the definition of marriage? Is this not an example the government taking an authoritarian stance against morality?
The NAACP recently announced they support gay marriage. Obama recently announced he's evolved to a point where he supports gay marriage. Has anyone asked why? Could it be because they believe that the immoral lifestyle of homosexuality is a natural part of society? Or is Obama saying such for the purpose of gaining votes? Is the NAACP doing so to try to convince the black vote, which in the case of Proposition 8 in California voted overwhelmingly to support the definition of marriage being as between a man and a woman, that it is now the black thing to do to change their moral standards to that of supporting sexual perversion?
Those that wish to challenge America's moral standards are even beginning to stage fake hate crimes in order to try and advance their agenda, as in the case of a lesbian couple in Parker, Colorado, who spray painted "Kill the Gay" on their garage door in the hopes of pinning it on those that dare to think unfavorably regarding their choice of lifestyle.
The next day, the lesbians told local authorities they found a noose hanging on the handle of their front door.
The women told officers investigating the incident they believed it was a retaliation from their neighbors and homeowner’s association, who had complained the couple did not pick up after their dogs.
For their crime of staging the incidents, which was discovered after an investigation that included the FBI, the women have been charged with criminal mischief, false reporting, and one of them with an additional charge of forgery.
Those who wish to destroy morality, America as founded, religious institutions like marriage, and religion have stooped to any level they feel necessary to accomplish their goals. To stop the dwindling of America's standards, we must be pro-active, and be actively involved in conserving the standards that were so integral in the prosperity of this nation over the last two hundred plus years.
Be it the violent protesters in Chicago acting in a defiant manner to societal standards and law enforcement, to ridiculous attempts to silence the opposition, as in the case of the student being told by a teacher that he could be arrested for criticizing Obama, the downward spiral is evidently in high gear.
When a society deteriorates to the point that moral standards are seen as mere guidelines, and simply the ranting of ancient fools that one may ignore, the political structure follows suit. As we fail to follow the standards set forth regarding moral and virtuous behavior, so will the body politic fail to follow the standards set forth regarding their authorities and behavior as provided in the United States Constitution. Stopping all of this is in our hands. It is up to us to fight for America's standards of morality and freedom. America's greatness lives and dies based on our willingness to defend her.
If we fail to defend our standards, a tyranny will rise in its place.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
The Moral Infrastructure by Thomas Sowell - Townhall
Proposed Law would Force Churches to Host Gay Weddings - Fox News and Commentary
NAACP backs gay marriage - Politico
Lesbian Couple Charged with Staging Hate Crime - ABC News
Protesters Stream into Chicago Park for NATO March - MSNBC
High School Teacher Tells Student He Can Be Arrested for Criticizing Obama - Examiner
Those that wish to challenge America's moral standards are even beginning to stage fake hate crimes in order to try and advance their agenda, as in the case of a lesbian couple in Parker, Colorado, who spray painted "Kill the Gay" on their garage door in the hopes of pinning it on those that dare to think unfavorably regarding their choice of lifestyle.
The next day, the lesbians told local authorities they found a noose hanging on the handle of their front door.
The women told officers investigating the incident they believed it was a retaliation from their neighbors and homeowner’s association, who had complained the couple did not pick up after their dogs.
For their crime of staging the incidents, which was discovered after an investigation that included the FBI, the women have been charged with criminal mischief, false reporting, and one of them with an additional charge of forgery.
Those who wish to destroy morality, America as founded, religious institutions like marriage, and religion have stooped to any level they feel necessary to accomplish their goals. To stop the dwindling of America's standards, we must be pro-active, and be actively involved in conserving the standards that were so integral in the prosperity of this nation over the last two hundred plus years.
Be it the violent protesters in Chicago acting in a defiant manner to societal standards and law enforcement, to ridiculous attempts to silence the opposition, as in the case of the student being told by a teacher that he could be arrested for criticizing Obama, the downward spiral is evidently in high gear.
When a society deteriorates to the point that moral standards are seen as mere guidelines, and simply the ranting of ancient fools that one may ignore, the political structure follows suit. As we fail to follow the standards set forth regarding moral and virtuous behavior, so will the body politic fail to follow the standards set forth regarding their authorities and behavior as provided in the United States Constitution. Stopping all of this is in our hands. It is up to us to fight for America's standards of morality and freedom. America's greatness lives and dies based on our willingness to defend her.
If we fail to defend our standards, a tyranny will rise in its place.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
The Moral Infrastructure by Thomas Sowell - Townhall
Proposed Law would Force Churches to Host Gay Weddings - Fox News and Commentary
NAACP backs gay marriage - Politico
Lesbian Couple Charged with Staging Hate Crime - ABC News
Protesters Stream into Chicago Park for NATO March - MSNBC
High School Teacher Tells Student He Can Be Arrested for Criticizing Obama - Examiner
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