Restoring Education Central to American Greatness http://davidanorris.posterous.com David A. Norris Blog posterous.com Fri, 12 Apr 2013 07:40:00 -0700 Part I: Government/Chapter 2, P 37, 38 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-governmentchapter-2-p-37-38 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-governmentchapter-2-p-37-38

The Sovereignty Of Man

Under the Impartial God Of Creation Over Government

 

The following is a listing of the principal lessons to be learned from biblical guidelines about the several levels of government.

 

1.  God instituted civil government.

 

"For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.  Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power?  Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:  for he is the minister of God to thee for good.  But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain:  for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil" (Rom. 13:3-4).

 

2.  Omnipotent God is sovereign--His authority is over all.

 

In the history recorded in 1 Samuel 8, the Israelites rejected citizenship responsibilities outlined in scripture and asked to be like other nations and have a king.  God gave them a king--an arrangement that was second best to His own authority alone, but better than anarchy.

 

"But God is the judge: He putteth down one, and setteth up another" (Ps. 75:7).  "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment: and those that walk in pride He is able to abase" (Dan. 4:37).

 

3.  Government servants are accountable to God.

 

"For this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing" (Rom. 13:6).

 

4.  As citizens, we have a moral responsibility to participate and improve civil government.

 

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.  For there is no power but of God:  the powers that be are ordained of God.  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.  Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power?  Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:  for he is the minister of God to thee for good.  But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain:  for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil" (Rom. 13:1-4).

 

 

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Tue, 02 Apr 2013 06:21:44 -0700 Part I: Government http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-61143 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-61143

Conclusion (Part II)

 

Immortal Principles Central To Liberty and American Greatness

 

 

The tragic support for radical teacher privilege can be traced to changes in what many law students are being taught.  In the 1870s, Christopher C. Langdell, Dean of the Harvard Law School, discarded the foundational basis for law upon which greatness has been achieved in America: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…"

 

Langdell's fellow travelers are themselves victims of bad education.  According to them, no lasting absolutes upon which laws can be framed exist.  Instruction that fortifies the enemies of William Blackstone's Commentaries on Common Law is BAD education.  Blackstone's Commentaries were used by law students up through Abraham Lincoln's time.  It took several decades for the secularized instruction in law schools to compromise American jurisprudence.  The Commission on Excellence in Education emphasizes what is happening, "If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war."  The report laments, "the de-construct of the moral and spiritual strengths which knit together the very fabric of our society" (A Nation At Risk, the National Commission on Excellence in Education, April 26, 1983).

 

"Human history records the ongoing effort by men to substitute man-made law for the [unrelenting] laws of God and creation's nature."  Laws contrived by men end in disaster because they reject the existence of moral absolutes.  The consequences of this are clearly apparent today in America.  Quoting Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who documented the extermination of tens of millions of innocent victims in order to create a socialistic utopia in his homeland, "man has forgotten God" (quotes in this paragraph are from Understanding the Times, an exceptional resource, by David A. Noebel, Harvest House Publishers).

 

Enslavement by authoritarians' regulations and excessive taxation could not occur if Americans were being taught American history.  Renewed exposure to the God-honoring principles of the American Declaration of Independence is our most powerful weapon.  The light of truth fortifies the minds of men and women, boys and girls.  We believe these principles because they reflect the unrelenting power of creation's God.

 

We serve God.  The most significant change that came from the American war for independence is that the people were recognized by law to be sovereigns under God, over government.  Citizen self-rule replaced self-anointed authoritarians.  Government officials were recognized for what they are--servants of the people.

 

The Spiritual Awakening of 1740 through 1780 drove the selfless dedication that brought the American Revolution to a successful conclusion.  We have this promise, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).

 

 

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Fri, 22 Mar 2013 09:15:00 -0700 Part I: Government http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-2755 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-2755

American Principle Fourteen 

 

Life and Happiness are Humanity's Goals

 

"Unalienable rights, that among these are Life,

… and the pursuit of Happiness."

Declaration of Independence

 

 

"Kings or parliaments could not give the rights essential to happiness…  We claim them from a higher source--from the King of kings, and Lord of all the earth.  They are not annexed to us by parchments and seals. They are created in us by the decrees of Providence…  It would be an insult on the Divine Majesty to say that He has given or allowed any man or body of men a right to make me miserable.  If no man or body of men has such a right, I have a right to be happy.  If there can be no happiness without freedom, I have a right to be thus secured" (John Dickinson, reply to a Committee in Barbados, 1766).

 

An American principle: "What then is the American, this new man?  He is an American, who leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds [citizens are sovereigns under God, government officials are the servants]…  What is an American?  The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions.  From involuntary idleness, servile dependence, penury [extreme poverty], and useless labor, he has passed to toils of a very different nature, rewarded by ample subsistence.  This is an American" (one of several essays, in Letters From an American Farmer, 1782, by J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, a French immigrant who became a New York state farmer).

 

Regarding the establishment of a representative Republic, Alexander Hamilton declared, "…the people surrender nothing.  The people simply delegate to government servants as trustees the powers to protect and uphold the values, which the people believe to be inside the envelope of life and liberty for the 'pursuit of Happiness.'  Governments must be prohibited from doing things that undermine the citizens' right to life and self-rule.  The means that are helpful to governance and those which are harmful are countless in number, therefore," Hamilton added, "they have no need of particular reservations [spelled out in the Bill of Rights]."

 

"The consequence is, that happiness of society is the first law of every government.  The people have a right to insist that this rule be observed; and are entitled to demand a moral security that the legislature will observe it.  If they have not the first right, they are slaves; if they have not the second right [moral security], they are, every moment, exposed to slavery" (U.S. Supreme Court Justice James Wilson, Lectures, 1790-1791).

 

 

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Tue, 12 Feb 2013 06:21:00 -0800 Part I: Government http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-57375 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-57375

American Principle Six (Part II)

 

The Written Constitution Established

By Americans Is a Tool For Governing

 

Governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed."

Declaration of Independence

 

 

The people as sovereigns have no right to delegate powers to government that are unjust.  Citizens have the right to the fruits of their labor from irrational and confiscatory taxes.  Those in the judiciary have the very serious responsibility to uphold lawsuits, finding that legislators or government administrators are violating the unalienable rights to equal treatment under the law intended by the Constitution.

 

The limited uses of government powers are addressed in the Preamble to the Constitution:  "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare [meaning common needs that do not conflict with or hamper the development of the work ethic and citizen self-reliance], and secure the Blessings of Liberty [from oppression] to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

 

In Abraham Lincoln's immortal speech, he emphasized that we, as a people, look to God's law for justice and liberty.  He dedicated the field where thousands gave their lives at Gettysburg, saying, "That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth" (The Gettysburg Address, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1863).

 

Some delegates to the Constitutional Convention believed these principles of the Declaration of Independence for guiding government action would prevail without amending the Constitution because many states had adopted a Bill of Rights.  Framers at the national level felt the Constitution was adequate because they just spent four months designing ways to expose and remove evil men from government and encourage honorable employees to stay.  Obviously the delegates did not anticipate the pervasiveness of the federal judiciary as it has since developed.  Ultimately the Founders at the state level made a most significant contribution by insisting that the nation's Constitution be amended by a Bill of Rights.

 

Regardless of the rank of those in government, they are the servants, and the citizens who established the Constitution are the sovereigns.  Having it any other way is a return to the long history of tyranny from the hands of evil men powered by government.

 

 

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Tue, 08 Jan 2013 14:29:00 -0800 Part I: Government http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-38003 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-38003

Part I

Government

Chapters 1 to 6

 

Chapter 1

 

Immortal Principles Central

to Liberty and American Greatness I

 

What is the common bond that enabled Americans to establish the greatest nation on earth?  The USA Today/Gallup Poll published May 6, 2010 reports that 92 percent of Americans believe in God and only 5 percent said they oppose the National Day of Prayer.  The problem is that public schools stopped teaching how the basic American belief “In God We Trust” translates into principles for political decisions that made America the overwhelming choice of immigrants from around the world.  

 

Having confronted the barriers to success imposed by the British Crown at the First Continental Congress, the Founding Fathers needed to address the following questions:


  1. How do we bring into focus the justification for independence that can, in fact, support the life, liberty and happiness that the colonists found possible?
  2. How do we declare the sovereignty of man under God over government, upon which respect for impartial law, citizen self-rule and liberty are justified?
  3. How do we emphasize the need for strict separation from the British king and other pretender gods, who have managed to betray and exploit mankind down through history?
  4. What must we proclaim that will convince other nations to have confidence in the United States as a sovereign entity?

 

The answers to these questions became the basis for the unique principles for government in America.  The Declaration of Independence provided a moral and just basis for law as no other document before or since.  These principles were adopted unanimously by the Second Continental Congress on July 2, 1776.  On July 4, 1776, the delegates signed their names to the Declaration, and the new nation—independent from Great Britain—was born.

 

The people of England were not the issue.  Americans were fond of the people and valued their trade relationships.  At issue was limiting the oppressive ways of British government and the need for tough-minded rejection of practices that violated liberty and citizen incentive to be self-governing.

 

 

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Mon, 31 Dec 2012 06:18:00 -0800 Introduction VII http://davidanorris.posterous.com/introduction-vii-78068 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/introduction-vii-78068

There are three achievements of secular progressives that have enabled leftist radicals to control behavioral instruction in public schools (see Chapters 7 and 9).  Their first big achievement came when Supreme Court majorities began to impose mandates for law that rejected the unique God-honoring basis for law advanced by the Magna Carta and the American Declaration of Independence.  When secular mandates by the court for future laws are allowed to stand, the historic absolutes resident in the "rule of law" and moral priorities are no longer binding.  Consequently, our Constitution becomes a mere political document.  The center of power shifted foolishly from the people and Congress subject to the Constitution, to the political preferences of judges.  Among the first of many twists away from our Constitution and the First Amendment was the Everson v. Board of Education decision.  The second achievement of leftist radicals was the takeover, beginning in the 1960s, of the then-conservative National Education Association (see Chapters 7 through 10).  Also in the 1960s, secular progressives, committed to the elimination of self-government and liberty, reached their third achievement--the unionization of government teachers.

A government-established union monopoly, like an established state church, undermines the people's right to choose between providers that must compete for a following.  Union monopolies have always been power-corrupting institutions. Whatever their agenda by subject or region, accountability to competition is removed and evil prevails.  Union monopolies are in diametrical opposition to government of, by and for the people.  It is the collective political power foolishly granted to autoworker unions that brought the American auto industry to its knees.  It is the collective political advantage of unionism that makes it possible for radicals to impose their atheistic worldview over the objections to both the vast majority of parents and the millions of excellent teachers caught in the union web.  Violation of citizen authority (government of, by and for the people) is the radical politics of fascism--authoritarian hierarchical government.

Detailed in Chapter 7, the loss of citizen control over what our nation's youth are taught in the behavioral studies hinges on two teachers' tenure contract paragraphs demanded by union bosses when negotiating with local school boards.  The first devastating paragraph provides teacher tenure guarantees that supersede the authority of school administrators to replace employees.  The second harmful paragraph makes it a crime to disclose bad teacher performance to the public or to other schools that are considering hiring the teacher until costly and lengthy legal proceedings have approved such disclosure.

 

Professionals like medical doctors, engineers, plumbers and airline pilots--vital to our society--do NOT have tenure guarantees.  Yet what is being taught to America's youth is of even greater importance.

Some repetition has been used for emphasis and to tie the chapters together.

 

Benjamin_franklin_4

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin, a delegate from Pennsylvania to the second Continental Congress and signer of the Constitution of the United States, wrote about the First Principle in his Articles of Belief:  "I believe there is one supreme, most perfect Being … Also when I stretch my imagination through and beyond our system of planets, beyond the visible fixed stars themselves, into that space that is [in] every way infinite, and conceive it filled with suns like ours, each with a chorus of worlds forever moving around him; then this little ball on which we move, seems, even in my narrow imagination, to be almost nothing, and myself less than nothing, and of no sort of consequence … That I may be preserved from atheism … Help me, O Father! … For all thy innumerable benefits; for life, and reason … My good God, I thank thee!" (Benjamin Franklin, "Articles of Belief," in The American Ideal of 1776, ed. Hamilton Albert Long {Philadelphia: Heritage Books, 1963}, 5).

Is it too late for America?  Not at all.

 

Image from http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/tdgh-jun/jun01.htm

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Sat, 29 Dec 2012 08:25:00 -0800 Introduction VI http://davidanorris.posterous.com/introduction-vi http://davidanorris.posterous.com/introduction-vi

"Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants," Justice Brandeis

http://www.law.louisville.edu/library/collections/brandeis/node/196

 

Secular militants claim to be patriots because, as they say, dissent is American.   What they mean is evident from how they have gutted traditional American values in public education.  They demand freedom for themselves, but reject the American concept of academic freedom (the freedom to be honestly informed) and the freedom of others to make their own choices.  The soft underbelly of the secular left is the fact that they cannot withstand the competition of ideas.  For them, it is intolerable to allow students to be taught about the non-sectarian and impartial  God of creation upon which inalienable rights, citizen self-government and liberty depend.

 

An elaboration of “In God We Trust” is found in Proverbs 3:5,6:  “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

 

The “In God We Trust” worldview has been the foundation for public education, beginning in the original thirteen colonies and continuing for over 250 years.  The Supreme Court's ruling in the Everson v. Board of Education decision of 1947 began a dramatic shift away from “In God We Trust.”  See Chapter 6 for details about this Supreme Court ruling.  We review the civic religion adopted by immigrants from around the world in Chapters 1 through 4 and Part IV, Appendix B, Iowa's Bill of Rights, taken in part from the Declaration of Independence.  The strategy for restoring competition in education and choice by the people is outlined in Chapters 11 and 12.

 

The unionization of teachers and accompanying tenure law have enabled a small cadre of radicals to take God out of citizen-funded government schools. Newt Gingrich stated:  “Those who want absolute proof you cannot teach American history honestly and accurately without reference to God, go to the Lincoln Memorial and read where in Lincoln’s second inaugural, March 1865, he referred to God fourteen times and used two quotes from the Bible.”*

 

*http://www.c-spanvideo.org/clip/3597743

 

 

Lincoln_memorial_lincoln_contrasty

Lincoln Memorial Statue

 

 

 

There are millions of honest, hardworking teachers, but they have no more control over the lifeview being taught in the soft sciences than do parents.  An entirely different system for educating American youth is needed that would bypass the leftist teachers' union monopoly.  Funds for education provided by Americans must be routed through the parents, similar to the G.I. Bill following World War II.  This bill provided that education sought by veterans be paid from taxpayer revenues, and the veterans had the freedom to use the tuition grant in a public or private institution of their choice.

 

 

Image from http://washingtonvirtualtrip.wikispaces.com/Abraham+Lincoln+Memorial

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Tue, 18 Dec 2012 09:33:00 -0800 Introduction III http://davidanorris.posterous.com/introduction-iii http://davidanorris.posterous.com/introduction-iii

Historically, public schools salvaged many students from homes where parenting was failing. Now students from good homes are abandoning the values that made America such a great nation.  This problem is ongoing even though most teachers are doing their best to counter the incursion of secular absolutism (atheism) in the soft sciences of our schools.

 

John Adams' quote:  "But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood.  And liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right, from the frame of their nature, to knowledge, as their great Creator, who does nothing in vain, has given them understandings, and a desire to know; but besides this, they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean, of the characters and conduct of their rulers.  Rulers are no more than attorneys, agents, and trustees for the people; and if the cause, the interest and trust, is insidiously betrayed, or wantonly trifled away, the people have a right to revoke the authority that they themselves have deputed, and to constitute abler and better agents, attorneys, and trustees. And the preservation of the means of knowledge among the lowest ranks, is of more importance to the public than all the property of all the rich men in the country."  John Adams was a direct descendant of Puritan colonists from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  A Harvard graduate, he served on the First Continental Congress and helped to draft the Declaration of Independence.  John Adams was vice-president under George Washington and the second president of the United States  (A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1766 from The Works of John Adams, …by his grandson, Charles F. Adams, Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 10 volumes).


 

Truth or Consequences

 

Knowledge of and acceptance of the Bible, the Great Reformation (1500-1570) and American history empower conscientious individuals to be self-governing and, on a broader scale, inspire communities and the nation as a whole to overcome the tyranny of moral confusion.  Identifying with the first principle (God of Creation is Man's Benefactor) enables believers to avoid the deception and confusion advanced by truth-trashers.

 

Strangely, even the German atheist, Friedrich Nietzsche, accepted the message from human history and understood the source of freedom for his way of life.  He wrote:  "Remove Christianity and the ideas fall too."*

 

*http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?year=2008&month=11

 

The American Founding Fathers understood human history and identified the distinction of good as self-evident Laws of Nature and of Nature's God.  It is the governing character of these principles (laws), such as humility, the Golden Rule, and the Ten Commandments, that leads to lasting success.  This is the sure foundation upon which man's right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" rests.  Called "virtue" by America's Founding Fathers, the impartial and divine element frees man to do what is right.  "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Corinthians 3:17).

 

 

 

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Fri, 14 Dec 2012 06:37:00 -0800 Introduction II http://davidanorris.posterous.com/introduction-ii http://davidanorris.posterous.com/introduction-ii

Ideas for decision making have one of two origins—either materialistic and mortal or based upon the reality of everlasting truth, according to the design of Creation's God.  From the beginning, Americans reached beyond the failed practices of man to immortal values that make stability, liberty and prosperity possible.  Judeo-Christian principles have been the foundation for public dialogue and government policy.  Truth from the Hebrew Christian Bible has enabled citizen self-government and individual liberty.

 

William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England were used by Abraham Lincoln and were continued to be used by students of law into the 1920s.  Blackstone said: “Man, considered as a creature, must necessarily be subject to the laws [principles] of his Creator …  These laws laid down by God are the eternal immutable laws of good and evil … This law of nature dictated by God Himself, is of course superior in obligation to any other.  It is binding over the entire globe, in all countries, and at all times:  no human laws are of any validity if contrary to this.”*

 

*http://www.constitution.org/tb/tb-1102.htm

 

First Principle

The God of Creation is Man's Benefactor

 

That the God of creation is man's benefactor is so foundational it cannot be arrived at by any other proposition.  It is the basic principle upon which all other principles follow.  When man chooses to walk according to God's benevolent law, he learns of the power that is God's alone and by which God grants him victory over evil.  This reality about creation's nature reveals God's protection.

 

"Patriotism is as much a virtue as justice, and is as necessary for support of societies as the natural affection is for the support of families.  The Amor Patriae is both moral and a religious duty.  It comprehends not only the love of our neighbors but millions of our fellow creatures, not only the present but of future generations.  This virtue we find constitutes a part of the first character of history."**

 

--Dr. Benjamin Rush, essay on patriotism published in 1773.  He was a delegate to the Continental Congress from Pennsylvania and signed the Declaration of Independence.  A devout Christian, Rush established Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and served as professor of medical theory and clinical practice at the University of Pennsylvania from 1791 to 1813.

 

**http://www.whatwouldthefoundersdo.org/showQuote.aspx?q=403

 

In fact, the American colonies did not become united until the constitutional delegates agreed to amendments that were specific about religious and educational freedom from government and non-government dictation.  The first ten amendments included the codification of the principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence (separation from authoritarian rule).  Far from being secular, all aspects of human endeavor, including government, fall under the purview of creation’s God.  The values for determining the proper role of laws and the use of government power are clear.  We ought to obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).  Adoption of this impartial, nonsectarian, God-honoring predicate for society has served as a marvelous unifier for our diverse immigrant nation.

 

An elaboration of "In God We Trust" is found in Proverbs 3:5,6:  "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."

 

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Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:55:00 -0800 State of Iowa Bill of Rights II http://davidanorris.posterous.com/state-of-iowa-bill-of-rights-ii http://davidanorris.posterous.com/state-of-iowa-bill-of-rights-ii

This law follows the right to life and liberty from government oppression, principles of the Declaration of Independence.

 

Protection of the citizens from authoritarian judges depends upon preserving the intent of the law in the matter of unalienable citizen rights.  This depends upon discontinuation of fascistic tenure guarantees that empower leftist law professors to prevent the school administrators from controlling what is taught to those who may later become judges.

 

Twice tried--bail. SECTION 12. No person shall after acquittal, be tried for the same offense.  All persons shall, before conviction, be bailable, by sufficient sureties, except for capital offenses where the proof is evident, or the presumption great.

Habeas corpus. SECTION 13. The writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, or refused when application is made as required by law, unless in case of rebellion, or invasion the public safety may require it.

Military. SECTION 14. The military shall be subordinate to the civil power.  No standing army shall be kept up by the state in time of peace; and in time of war, no appropriation for a standing army shall be for a longer time than two years.

Quartering soldiers. SECTION 15. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war except in the manner prescribed by law.

Treason. SECTION 16. Treason against the state shall consist only in levying war against it, adhering to its enemies, or giving them aid and comfort.  No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the evidence of two witnesses to the same overt act, or confession in an open court.

Bail--punishments. SECTION 17. Excessive bail shall not be required; excessive fines shall not be imposed, and cruel and unusual punishment shall not be inflicted.

Eminent domain--drainage ditches and levees. SECTION 18. Private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation first being made, or secured to be made to the owner thereof, as soon as the damages shall be assessed by a jury, who shall not take into consideration any advantages that may result to said owner on account of the improvement for which it is taken.

The general assembly, however, may pass laws permitting the owners of lands to construct drains, ditches, and levees for agricultural, sanitary or mining purposes across the lands of others, and provide for the organization of drainage districts, vest the proper authorities with power to construct and maintain levees, drains and ditches and to keep in repair all drains, ditches, and levees heretofore constructed under the laws of the state, by special assessments upon the property benefited thereby.   The general assembly may provide by law for the condemnation of such real estate as shall be necessary for the construction and maintenance of such drains, ditches and levees, and prescribe the method of making such condemnation.  Paragraph 2 added 1908, Amendment [13].

Imprisonment for debt. SECTION 19.  No person shall be imprisoned for debt in any civil action, on mesne or final process, unless in case of fraud; and no person shall be imprisoned for a militia fine in time of peace.

Right of assemblage--petition. SECTION 20.  The people have the right freely to assemble together to counsel for the common good; to make known their opinions to their representatives and to petition for a redress of grievances.

Attainder--ex post facto law--obligation of contract. SECTION 21.  No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, shall ever be passed.  Referred to in S12E.11, 16.2 of the Code.

Resident aliens. SECTION 22.  Foreigners who are, or may hereafter become residents of this state, shall enjoy the same rights in respect to the possession, enjoyment and descent of property, as native born citizens.

Slavery--penal servitude. SECTION 23.  There shall be no slavery in this state; nor shall there be involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crime.

Agricultural leases. SECTION 24.  No lease or grant of agricultural lands, reserving any rent, or service of any kind, shall be valid for a longer period than twenty years.  Referred to in S461A.25 of the Code.

Rights reserved. SECTION 25.  This enumeration of rights shall not be construed to impair or deny others, retained by the people.

 

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Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:32:00 -0800 State of Iowa Bill of Rights I http://davidanorris.posterous.com/state-of-iowa-bill-of-rights-i http://davidanorris.posterous.com/state-of-iowa-bill-of-rights-i

This law follows the right to life and liberty from government oppression, principles of the Declaration of Independence.

 

Protection of the citizens from authoritarian judges depends upon preserving the intent of the law in the matter of unalienable citizen rights.  This depends upon discontinuation of fascistic tenure guarantees that empower leftist law professors to prevent the school administrators from controlling what is taught to those who may later become judges.

 

Preamble.  WE THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF IOWA, grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of those blessings, do ordain and establish a free and independent government, by the name of the State of Iowa, the boundaries whereof shall be as follows:

 

ARTICLE I. BILL OF RIGHTS.

Rights of persons. SECTION 1. All men and women are, by nature, free and equal, and have certain inalienable rights--among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.  Amended 1998, Amendment [45].

Political power. SECTION 2. All political power is inherent in the people.  Government is instituted for the protection, security, and benefit of the people, and they have the right, at all times, to alter or reform the same, whenever the public good may require it.

Religion. SECTION 3. The general assembly shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; nor shall any person be compelled to attend any place of worship, pay tithes, taxes, or other rates for building or repairing places of worship, or the maintenance of any minister, or ministry.

Religious test--witnesses. SECTION 4. No religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office, or public trust, and no person shall be deprived of any of his rights, privileges, or capacities, or disqualified from the performance of any of his public or private duties, or rendered incompetent to give evidence in any court of law or equity, in consequence of his opinions on the subject of religion; and any party to any judicial proceeding shall have the right to use as a witness, or take the testimony of, any other person not disqualified on account of interest, who may be cognizant of any fact material to the case; and parties to suits may be witnesses, as provided by law. Referred to in S729.1 of the Code.

Dueling. SECTION 5. Repealed 1992, Amendment [43].

Laws uniform. SECTION 6. All laws of a general nature shall have a uniform operation; the general assembly shall not grant to any citizen, or class of citizens, privileges or immunities, which, upon the same terms shall not equally belong to all citizens.

Liberty of speech and press. SECTION 7. Every person may speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right.  No law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech, or of the press.  In all prosecutions or indictments for libel, the truth may be given in evidence to the jury, and if it appears to the jury that the matter charged as libelous was true, and was published with good motives and for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted.

Personal security--searches and seizures. SECTION 8. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable seizures and searches shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue but on probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons and things to be seized.

Right of trial by jury--due process of law. SECTION 9. The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate; but the general assembly may authorize trial by a jury of a less number than twelve men in inferior courts; but no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.  See also R.Cr.P. 2.17, 2.21(2), 2.67; R.C.P. 1.902, 1.903, 1.1108.

Rights of persons accused. SECTION 10. In all criminal prosecutions, and in cases involving the life, or liberty of an individual the accused shall have a right to a speedy and public trail by an impartial jury; to be informed of the accusation against him, to have a copy of the same when demanded; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for his witnesses; and, to have the assistance of counsel. See S602.1601 of the Code.

When indictment necessary--grand jury.  SECTION 11. All offenses less than felony and in which the maximum permissible imprisonment does not exceed thirty days shall be tried summarily before an officer authorized by law, on information under oath, without indictment, or the intervention of a grand jury, saving to the defendant the right to appeal; and no person shall be held to answer for any higher criminal offense, unless on presentment or indictment by a grand jury, except in cases arising in the army, or navy, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war or public danger.

The grand jury may consist of any number of members not less than five, nor more than fifteen, as the general assembly may by law provide, or the general assembly may provide for holding persons to answer for any criminal offense without the intervention of a grand jury.  Paragraph 2 added 1884, Amendment [9]; Paragraph 1 amended 1998, Amendment [46]; As to indictment and the number of grand jurors, see R.Cr.P.2.3, 2.4; Magistrate jurisdiction, see S602.6405 of the Code.

 

Iowa_capitol

Capitol Building of the State of Iowa

Des Moines, Iowa

 

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Sat, 24 Nov 2012 17:39:00 -0800 Responsible Citizen Self-rule and Liberty http://davidanorris.posterous.com/responsible-citizen-self-rule-and-liberty http://davidanorris.posterous.com/responsible-citizen-self-rule-and-liberty

By placing their faith in the principles advanced by creation's God for education, Americans achieved liberty from brutal rulers and the history of big government.

 

Benjamin Franklin, a delegate from Pennsylvania to the second Continental Congress and signer of the Constitution of the United States, wrote this in his Articles of Belief:  "I believe there is one supreme, most perfect Being…  Also when I stretch my imagination through and beyond our system of planets, beyond the visible fixed stars themselves, into that space that is [in] every way infinite, and conceive it filled with suns like ours, each with a chorus of worlds forever moving around him…  That I may be preserved from atheism . . . Help me, O Father!... For all thy innumerable benefits; for life, and reason… my good God, I thank thee!"*

John Quincy Adams, America's sixth president:  "The law given from Sinai was civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious code; it contained many statutes… of universal application--laws essential to the existence of men in society [of the United States], and most of which have been enacted by every nation which ever professed any code of laws."**

To justify taxpayer-funded education, instruction must detail the civil and moral absolutes found in the Ten Commandments but rightly avoid controversy of religious codes that are the domain of church denominations.  The depth of spiritual conviction of these absolutes is spelled out in the Creator-based Declaration of Independence, religious liberty (First Amendment), and the Bill of [human] Rights law.  Citizen equality as sovereigns under God over government is demonstrated when randomly chosen citizens serve as the supreme court for judgment of guilt or innocence in criminal trials conducted by government officials.  The above values are the design, and the Constitution is the tool to implement that design.

 

The preamble to the Constitution, "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare [meaning common needs that do not conflict with or hamper the development of the work ethic and personal self-reliance], and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

 

"Our investigation indicates that the main reason for youthful rebellion and the attitude of carelessness in student morals is their loss of confidence in the wisdom embedded in their heritage.  Failure to dearly implant these truths detaches future generations from past experience, the very basis of education" (Grand Jury Presentment, 1968-69, Problems in Higher Education, the Eleventh Judicial of Iowa).

 

First-amendment-rated-e-for-everyone-225x300

*http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/ben-franklin-quotes-1.html

**http://quotes.practicalmanliness.com/john-quincy-adams/138/

 

 

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Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:34:00 -0800 The Sovereignty of the American Citizen http://davidanorris.posterous.com/the-sovereignty-of-the-american-citizen http://davidanorris.posterous.com/the-sovereignty-of-the-american-citizen

Those among us who choose to exchange declining relationships and health for the temporary excitements of moral revisionism is one thing.  Exercising that diversity in private is their right.  Those demanding the right, however, to take over behavioral curriculum in taxpayer-funded public schools is another.  The war they have imposed, by pressuring liberals in government, must be confronted and won.  America is a Republic!  The "living Constitution" idea of changeable decrees imposed by liberal judges (1947 Everson v. Board of Education decision) always becomes despotism because power in the hands of man, over time, becomes corrupt.

 

"Our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood.  And liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right, from the frame of their nature, to knowledge, as their great Creator, who does nothing in vain, has given them understandings, and a desire to know; but besides this, they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean, of the characters and conduct of their rulers.  Rulers are no more than attorneys, agents, and trustees for the people; and if the cause, the interest and trust, is insidiously betrayed, or wantonly trifled away, the people have a right to revoke the authority. And the preservation of the means of knowledge among the lowest ranks, is of more importance to the public than all the property of all the rich men in the country" (John Adams, Vice-President under George Washington, and second president of the United States, A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1766 from The Works of John Adams, …by his grandson, Charles F. Adams, Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 10 volumes).

 

The sovereignty of man under the impartial and higher authority of creation's God over government is traceable from the Bible to the Magna Carta, 1215, signed at the point of a sword by a frightened king.  It is likewise traceable to the English Bill of Rights, 1689, signed by a would-be brutal king.  We then have the God-honoring American Declaration of Independence, 1776, the War of Independence, and then the Constitution highlighted by the First Amendment and the Bill of [human] Rights which details what servants in government must never be allowed to violate.

 

The Common Law jury system, resting final authority in the people, came alive in America on March 4, 1789, the date Congress set for the start of the new ConstitutionThis is the most important feature of the American Constitution.  George Washington became our first president under the Constitution on April 30, 1789.

 

Revelations of the American Judeo-Christian heritage are singularly qualified to foster personal responsibility, citizen self-government and prosperity.  People do not steal the fruits of other men's labor.  The community helps those few who are not able to work or are indigent for other reasons.  Reputations for honesty do not rest in the words of evil gossips.  Taxpayer-funded educators support the character of the traditional family.

 

God does not control men; He protects those who will listen.  By applying God-honoring interpretations of Scripture and being sensitive to His Spirit, man becomes self-controlled (Hebrews 13:18-20).  "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6). 

 

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Mon, 05 Nov 2012 08:58:00 -0800 Part Ten: Grand Jury Presentment of "Problems in Higher Education" http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-nine-grand-jury-presentment-of-problems http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-nine-grand-jury-presentment-of-problems

Portions of the Presentment of the Grand Jury for the Eleventh Judicial District of Iowa follow, with words added for clarification in brackets.  Supplemental ideas are italicized.

 

End of Presentment II

 

"The 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure by the American Association of University Professors has no legal effect, but the AAUP publicly censures colleges and universities that they believe have violated [their version of] academic freedom.  However, nearly all [not all] of the colleges and universities have adopted this statement or a variation of the statement which is contained in the faculty policy manual of each college or university, and it is incorporated by reference in the employment contract between the university and each individual faculty member."*

 

The penetrating damage imposed because of tenure laws sheltering radical professors and teachers in the soft sciences must be [reversed].  The authority of taxpayer/parents to control what is taught in government institutions must be restored.  By routing education revenues directly to the parents or guardians, sanity will be restored to education.  The many thousands of honest and morally upright teachers will again have the unimpeded support of the citizen consensus.  Not only will what is taught be cleaned up, but also competition between education suppliers will reduce the cost [and increase the quality] of public education.

 

The voice in the chorus of concerned citizens is imperative.  What confronts the American family and voter electorate is a test of wills.  School administrators must be able to fire leftist teachers [without spending] years and… tens of thousands of taxpayers' dollars defending education from the [resulting] lawsuits imposed by ACLU lawyers and the imperial arm of radical judges.  To effect change, active citizen involvement in the political process must exceed the determination of those who are using political circumvention to destroy the family and liberty.

 

43056858587115878

*Dr. Ronald B. Standler, "Academic Freedom in the USA," http://www.rbs2.com/afree.htm

 

 

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Mon, 05 Nov 2012 00:32:00 -0800 Part Nine: Grand Jury Presentment of "Problems in Higher Education" http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-nine-grand-jury-presentment-of-problems-54938 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-nine-grand-jury-presentment-of-problems-54938

Portions of the Presentment of the Grand Jury for the Eleventh Judicial District of Iowa follow, with words added for clarification in brackets.  Supplemental ideas are italicized.

 

End of Presentment I

 

The purpose of universities was freedom for competition of ideas in search of truth.  What has happened is the advocates of atheistic-secular totalitarianism applied their art and removed competition from the soft sciences.  When citizen control of universities, college, and now virtually all lower-level public schools was hijacked by faculty independence (teachers union mechanization and teacher tenure guarantees), tyranny was bound to follow.  What we now have is tyranny against the moral fiber of our youth and nation.  This is the inevitable result of [imposing] "German graduate methods [faculty independence] onto American campuses in the late nineteenth century… academic freedom became a cause celebrate."

 

At the time of the Grand Jury study, we did not realize the linkage between the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and what appears to be their prosecution arm, the leftist American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The book Freedom in Iowa, published by the Iowa State University Press, promoted the Iowa Civil Liberties Union, bringing this connection to my attention.

 

Teacher employee contracts, structured according to ACLU definitions for academic freedom and tenure, shift the decision-making authority for removing radical teachers away from the president of the university, who is hired by the public to superintend the institution.  It is now the aggressive tenured faculty, not the president, who have control over who teaches and what is taught.  Instead of being an administrator, the university president works full-time quieting campus disputes, promoting campus expansion, and raising money by lobbying alumni and legislators.  Sensing this kind of environment, the US Supreme Court held in a dispute that professors at Yeshiva University in New York City were managerial [administrators], not employees within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act, and hence the university administrators were not required to bargain with the union that represented the professors.  The Court noted: "Budget requests prepared by the senior professor in each subject area receive the 'perfunctory' approval of the Dean '99 percent' of the time and have never been rejected by the central administration.  The faculty… effectively determine curriculum, grading systems… matriculation standards" (NLRB v. Yeshiva University, 582 F.2d 686, 1978, affd 444 US 672, 1980).

 

The ACLU/AAUP version of academic freedom and tenure that enables radicals to reject the public standards for what is taught and not taught is not a legal concept.  Without the control of the citizens who established the schools and pay the bills, what is taught is wholly dependent upon the internal culture of the faculty at the universities and the government grade schools.  This problem is systemic.

 

Liberty

 

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Tue, 30 Oct 2012 12:01:00 -0700 Part Seven: Grand Jury Presentment of "Problems in Higher Education" http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-seven-grand-jury-presentment-of-problems http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-seven-grand-jury-presentment-of-problems

Portions of the Presentment of the Grand Jury for the Eleventh Judicial District of Iowa follow, with words added for clarification in brackets.  Supplemental ideas are italicized.

 

Where to Go for the Solution

 

The frustrating inability of the public to correct the distortion of academic freedom is due, in the Grand Jury's view, to the failure of the people to see the continuation of the atrocious abuses by radicals as the breakdown in the responsibility-authority-control principle that it really is.  Any organization, educational or otherwise, is an attempt at cooperation.  Cooperation is not possible unless responsibility and authority go hand-in-hand.

 

The parents and taxpayers delegated a portion of their responsibility and authority, through an administrative chain-of-command, for the selection of educators who want to teach and [who] agree with public policy.

 

The system of organization varies in the several states, but in Iowa the Board of Regents [chosen by the Governor] is responsible to the public for education at the state universities.  It is…. the Board of Regents who must lay down corrective policy on behalf of the people.  If the problem is not corrected… the public must impose changes as necessary.

 

The taxpayers, having the final responsibility for the universities, quite properly should have the authority to change the Board of Regents' membership or take other measures if they find themselves in disagreement with Board policy.  If the established procedures for governing at this level leave the Regents insensitive to public interest, then it is time to update governing procedures.

 

The citizen public, having given the Board of Regents [in this case] the responsibility to implement public policy, must also leave them the authority to go to the university president, who has the executive responsibility of the university.  The university president, vested with the responsibility by the Board of Regents, has the authority to [replace] his aides if he believes they are not carrying out his ideas [in the public interest].

 

Academic-freedom1

 

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Fri, 12 Oct 2012 14:30:00 -0700 Part Two: Grand Jury Presentment of "Problems in Higher Education" http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-two-grand-jury-presentment-of-problems-i http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-two-grand-jury-presentment-of-problems-i

 

Portions of the Presentment of the Grand Jury for the Eleventh Judicial District of Iowa follow, with words added for clarification in brackets.  Supplemental ideas are italicized.

 

The American Ideal Reflected in 

the Constitutions of the States

 

Control over the use of government power has always been a test of wills.  The Judeo-Christian approach to government was vehemently opposed by atheists during the writing of the Iowa Constitution.  The following quotations are from the Constitution of the State of Iowa, which is similar to many other state constitutions.

 

1. Preamble:  "We, the People of the State of Iowa, grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of those blessings, do ordain and establish a free and independent government, by the name of the STATE OF IOWA."

 

2.  Article I, Section 2:  "Government is instituted [by the people] for the protection, security and benefit of the people."

 

3.  Article I, Section 1:  "All men are, by nature, free and equal, and have certain inalienable rights--among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness."

 

4.  Article I, Section 2:  "All political power is inherent in the people."

 

5.  Article I, Section 2:  "They [the people] have the right at all times, to alter or reform the government, whenever the public good may require it."

 

6.  Provision for unrestricted exchange of ideas for education and government policy, no matter how radical, is provided through frequent elections:  candidates for office must go before the public and be chosen by mature citizens at the ballot box.

 

7.  Article IX, Section 3:  "The General Assembly shall encourage by all suitable means the intellectual, scientific, moral and agricultural improvement."

 

2168fcca8f15853c5f_zbm6i2jnc

 

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Sat, 06 Oct 2012 09:32:00 -0700 Original Purpose Destroyed by Union Control http://davidanorris.posterous.com/original-purpose-destroyed-by-union-control http://davidanorris.posterous.com/original-purpose-destroyed-by-union-control

 

It was my privilege to chair a Grand Jury for the Eleventh Judicial District of Iowa that investigated activities at Iowa State University and made several recommendations for changes in higher education. 

 

The Grand Jury members all contributed to the report.  There was a considerable amount of material to review.  A few campus administrators and members of the faculty met with us to give their perspective.  Following each meeting, I wrote a brief of what seemed relevant and presented it to the jury members at the next meeting.  The members approved most all of my draft, which later became the Presentment, unanimously approved by the jury.

 

The original purpose of universities was freedom of competition of ideas in search of truth.  What has happened is the advocates of atheistic-secular totalitarianism applied their art and removed competition from the soft sciences.  When citizen control of universities, college, and now virtually all lower-level public schools was hijacked by faculty independence (teachers union mechanization and teacher tenure guarantees), tyranny was bound to follow.

 

At the time of the Grand Jury study, we did not realize the linkage between the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and what appears to be their prosecution arm, the leftist American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).  The ACLU/AAUP version of academic freedom and tenure that enables radicals to reject the public standards for what is taught and not taught is not a legal concept.  Without the control of the citizens who established the schools and pay the bills, what is taught is wholly dependent upon the internal culture of the faculty at the universities and the government grade schools.  This problem is systemic.

 

Rev. Charles Finney is quoted as saying, "The time has come that Christians must vote for honest men and take consistent ground in politics…  Politics are a part of religion in a country such as this and Christians must do their duty to their country as a part of their duty to God…  God will bless or curse this nation according to the course Christians take in politics."*

 

Arrangements were made for a local print shop to reproduce and handle requests for copies of the Presentment.  Later, I received a call from them informing me that the university had purchased the remaining copies, so I instructed them to print five hundred more.  Portions of the Presentment will follow in the next blog post.

 

Grand_jury_report

*http://www.trumpetofheritage.org/

 

 

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Fri, 14 Sep 2012 21:53:00 -0700 Every Citizen Has Power to Advance Liberty in November http://davidanorris.posterous.com/every-citizen-has-power-to-advance-liberty-in http://davidanorris.posterous.com/every-citizen-has-power-to-advance-liberty-in

Support legislative candidates who recognize the benefit of routing taxpayer revenues for education directly to parents or other guardians.  They may then choose homeschool, private school or a charter school that reflects their values.  Texas legislators are now even backing "charter colleges."  They could be "core curriculum charters" that would offer "great books seminars," including courses on Bible, Renaissance, Reformation and, of course, American values resident in the Declaration of Independence.  Charter colleges would receive per-student funding as charter K-12 do now.*

 

Elect people to serve on school boards who will insist that the unique and specific American principles for government be taught.  In 1877, the United States government printing office published The Organic Laws of the United States of America.  Ben Poole, who was then clerk of printing records, compiled the documentation under an order by the U.S. Senate.  The Organic Laws of the United States of America lists the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Northwest Ordinance and the Constitution on the United States.  Share this study with your school board.

 

Support candidates at federal and state levels who agree to work for the appointment of judges who respect the original meaning of the Constitution.  "Judge Robert H. Bork describes the enormous damage that activist judges have inflicted on America in his book, Coercing Virtue: The Worldwide Rule of Judges.  The courts are often dominated by faux intellectuals of the Left who, unable to persuade the people or the legislators, 'avoid the verdict of the ballot box' by engaging in 'politics masquerading as law.'  We are 'increasingly governed not by law or elected representatives, but by unelected, unrepresentative, unaccountable committees of lawyers applying no law other than their own will.'"**

 

Work for and elect senators and representatives to the U.S. Congress who will reassert their duty to represent the people and restore the Constitutional provisions for restricting the role of federal judges.  The Constitution is a rule of law document, not a rule by unelected judges.  In terms of how authority manifests itself over time, the two contrasts represent the distinction between representative government of, by and for the people and the tyranny of authoritarianism.  In terms of philosophy, the two represent the distinction between the Creator-based Declaration of Independence and the evils of old European secular philosophy.  When the traditional American sovereignty of man under God over government was adopted on July 4, 1776, it reversed the historical inevitability of authoritarian carnage.

 

"Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress.  If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption.  If it be intelligent, brave and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature… If the next centennial does not find us a great nation… it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces."***

 

 

Timthumb

*Quotes from Marvin Olasky, "Academic Perestroika," World, December 5, 2009, www.worldmag.com/marvinolasky?ndxpage=3.

**Phyllis Schlafly, The Supremacists:  The Tyranny of Judges and How to Stop It (Dallas: Spence Publishing Company, 2004), 14.

***James Garfield, the twentieth president of the United States, 1877 (http://www.propertyrightsresearch.org/presidential_quotes.htm).>

 

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Tue, 21 Aug 2012 08:14:00 -0700 Outcome-Based Education That Is Profoundly American http://davidanorris.posterous.com/outcome-based-education-that-is-profoundly-am http://davidanorris.posterous.com/outcome-based-education-that-is-profoundly-am

Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, the second president of the United States, wrote to her young son, John Quincy, who would later become our sixth president:  "Great learning and superior abilities, should you ever possess them, will be of little value and small estimation, unless virtue, honor, truth, and integrity are added to them.  Adhere to those religious sentiments and principles that were early installed into your mind and remember that you are accountable to your Maker for all your words and actions.  Let me enjoin it upon you to attend constantly and steadfastly to the precepts and instructions of your father, as you value the happiness of your mother and your own welfare. His care and attention to you render many things unnecessary for me to write which I might otherwise do, but the inadvertency and heedlessness of youth, requires line upon line and precept upon precept, and when enforced by the joint efforts of both parents will, I hope, have a due influence upon your conduct; for dear as you are to me, I would much rather you should have found your grave in the ocean you have crossed, or that an untimely death crop you in your infant years, than see you an immoral, profligate, or graceless child.*

 

Children are not the property of the government or the state.  The authority and responsibility for what children are taught rests with parents.

 

A Well-Educated Student:

Speaks and writes accurately.

Listens attentively.

Is a reader.

Is honest at all times.

Is a person of prayer.

Has God-honoring goals.

Upholds the traditional family.

Is sensitive to the Word and to the will of God.

Is sensitive to the needs of others.

Handles success and defeat with grace.

Has convictions and stands for them.

Fulfills citizen duties to family, church and country.

Is polite in his dealings with others.

Uses resources responsibly.

Recognizes the existence of absolute truth which never changes and, applied, 

     serves as a very sure means for personal development and success.

Uses gentle yet persuasive words, not physical force, to communicate his position.

 

Woodrow Wilson, in his election campaign for President, stated "A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, nor what it is trying to do.  We are trying to do a futile thing if we do not know where we came from or what we have been about…  America was born a Christian nation.  America was born to exemplify that devotion to the tenets of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture."**

 


Abigail_adams

Abigail Adams

1744-1818

 

 

 

*Abigail Adams, Letter to John Quincy Adams, June 10, 1778, Butterfield Adams Family Correspondence, 3:37, http://books.google.com/books?id=59dQoRNSwxMC&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq...&q=butterfield%20adams%20family%20correspondence%20his%20care%20and%20attention%20to%20you%20render&f=false

**http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20120802/NEWS03/120802024/Chris-McDaniel...

 

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