Restoring Education Central to American Greatness http://davidanorris.posterous.com David A. Norris Blog posterous.com Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:15:30 -0700 Part I: Government http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-84462 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-84462

American Principle Thirteen 

 

Government Power and Taxes

Must Be Limited For Liberty's Sake

 

"… imposing Taxes on us without our Consent…"

Declaration of Independence

 

 

Low taxes and limited government are indispensable supports for property ownership and liberty.  "He [the king] has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance" (Declaration of Independence).

 

"The public money of this country [citizens' bank, the public treasury] is the toil and labor of the people… reasonable frugality ought to be observed.  And we would recommend particularly, the strictest care and the utmost firmness to prevent all unconstitutional draughts upon the public treasury" (instructions of the town of Braintree, Massachusetts to their legislative representative, 1765).

 

"That Government is instituted and ought to be exercised for the benefit of the people; which consists in the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the right of acquiring and using property, and generally of pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety" (James Madison, during the first session of Congress, proposing Bill of Rights amendments to the U.S. Constitution).

 

John Dickinson, presentation to the Pennsylvania Provincial Convention, 1774, "Let these truths be indelibly impressed on our minds--that we cannot be happy, without being free--that we cannot be free, without being secure in our property--that we cannot be secure in our property [without representation that forcefully opposes confiscatory taxes]…  But if when we plow--sow--reap--gather--and thresh--we find, that we plow--sow--reap--gather--and thresh for others, whose pleasure is to be the sole limitation how much they shall take, and how much they shall leave, why should we repeat the unprofitable toil?  Let us [citizens of Pennsylvania and even other colony states be alert] take care of our rights, and we therein take care of our prosperity.  'Slavery is ever preceded by sleep.'" (John Dickinson served as a member of the Continental Congress, Governor of Pennsylvania, a member of the Constitutional Convention and the Delaware Constitutional Convention, 1792).

 

Alexander Hamilton, in The Federalist No. 17, emphasizes that taxes should not be imposed at the federal level that enable the government to do things that go beyond the enumerated powers of the federal government and thereby take money from the people that should be available for state and local government needs (in effect, enabling the enemies of citizen sovereignty to use federal government to overpower representative government of, by, and for the people).  The Tenth Amendment was ratified December 15, 1791.  It restates the Constitution's principle of federalism by providing that powers not granted to the national government or prohibited to the states are reserved to the states or to the people.

 

The Federalist No. 10, written by James Madison, condemned taxing the thrifty and financially independent citizens for purposes of leveling (destroying their incentive to prosper financially).  Old European secular controls are "improper" and "wicked."*

*http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=10&page=transcript

 

Government debt that exceeds income cripples nations in the same devastating way that it cripples individuals, families and corporations.  "Indeed, we cannot too often inculcate upon you our desires, that all extraordinary grants and expensive measures may, upon all occasions, as much as possible, be avoided.  The public money of this country is the toil and labor of the people…" (written by representatives of the town of Braintree, Massachusetts, to their legislative representative, Braintree Records 1765-1766).

 

A compact discussion of American principles vital to the family and education can be found in the book, Restoring Education Central to American Greatness.

 

 

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Thu, 14 Mar 2013 08:59:00 -0700 Part I: Government http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-48165 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-48165

American Principle Twelve 

 

Vital to the American Work Ethic,

Property Ownership Must Be Secure

 

"… are entitled to life, liberty and property…"

Declaration, First Continental Congress, 1774

 

"All men… are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Declaration of Independence

 

 

"That all men… have certain inherent rights… namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property" (Virginia Declaration of Rights, 1776).

 

"In the general course of human nature, a power over a man's subsistence amounts to a power over his will [to work and be responsible]" (The Federalist No. 79, by Alexander Hamilton).

 

Karl Marx (1818-1883) helped turn Soviet Russia into a socialist state.  It collapsed after the death of hundreds of millions of people, some by starvation, others murdered by the government.  According to Marx, capitalism would never work because of the inequities between the rich and poor.  He achieved worldwide support of secular intellectuals for taxing the people and redistributing "each according to his ability, to each according to need" still common today.  The truth is that capitalism, man's ownership of the fruits of his labor, helps both the rich and poor get richer.  The promise of ownership encourages men to overcome the pain of labor and take personal responsibility.

 

Socialism was tried in the Plymouth Colony here in America following extensive food shortages.  Instead of the "rule of man," Governor Bradford turned to the Bible for wisdom and then announced that settlers would have a plot of land, and thereafter be responsible for and entitled to the fruits of their own labor (April, 1623).  Entire families went to work, and hard times changed to a plentiful supply of food.*

*http://www.sail1620.org/history/articles/122-plymouth-jamestown.html

 

"That is not a just government, nor is property secure under it, where arbitrary restrictions, exemptions, and monopolies deny to part of its citizens that free use of their faculties, and free choice of their occupations, which not only constitute their property in the general sense of the word; but are the means of acquiring property…" (Essay by James Madison, published in the National Gazette, March 29, 1792).

 

Linking the work ethic to the right of property ownership was a monumental break from the world's political history.  The incentive of property ownership is the engine that makes an economy flourish.  It is the increase in value of the products supplied by the worker that leads the buyer to spend his money to own the product.

 

 

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Tue, 05 Mar 2013 08:36:11 -0800 Part I: Government http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-85354 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-85354

American Principle Ten

 

Government Must Be Decentralized

 

"… repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny [British King] over these States."

Declaration of Independence

 

 

Officials who bypass the principles of limited government are suppressing the supreme right of the people to rule.  Such officials have violated their duties as trustees and are in effect usurpers, oppressors and tyrants.

 

The American system is "a Republic--a federation, or combination, of central and state republics--under which: the different governments will control each other…  Within each republic there are two safeguarding features: (a) a division of powers, as well as (b) a system of checks and balances between separate departments: hence a double security arises [essential] to the rights of the people" (The Federalist No. 51, by James Madison).

 

Regarding the federal government usurping essential citizen rights, "True barriers [for] of our liberty are our State governments" (President Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address, 1801).

 

"The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern; some of them in our country and under our own eyes.  To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them" (President George Washington's Farewell Address, 1796).

 

"Bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possesses their equal rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate would be oppression" (President Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address, 1801).

 

 

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Fri, 01 Mar 2013 08:21:00 -0800 Part I: Government http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-9912 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-9912

American Principle Nine

 

Authoritarians In Government Are

a Parasitic and Ever-Present Danger

 

"Taking away our charters, Abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments [constitutions]."

Declaration of Independence

 

 

"They know from experience… beset as they continually are by the wiles of parasites and sycophants [self-seeking] by the snares of the ambitious, the avaricious [greed for money], the desperate; by the artifices of men, who possess their confidence more than they deserve it, and of those who seek to possess, rather than to deserve it" (The Federalist No. 71, by Alexander Hamilton).

 

Two notable efforts by power-hungry authoritarians occurred near the end of the war for independence.  First, army officers were conspiring to take control of Congress; second was an effort to make George Washington king.  Washington squashed both of them abruptly.  After all, Americans had just been through a bloody war with England to get rid of rule by authoritarians, religious and secular.

 

An axiom for detecting the corrupt and evil use of power is to follow the flow of money to politicians in and outside of government.  Chief among tactics for overriding the will of the people is fraudulent election finance law.  The importation of millions of campaign dollars from homosexual and abortion rights advocates from outside a region to be represented, given to those who would make the laws, is destructive of representative government.  The people and representative governments must be protected from the importation of campaign funds from outside the region served by an elected government official.  This is not a violation of free speech.  Failure to do so is a crime against republican (not political party) government.  Such violations call for severe punishment.

 

"For it is a truth which the experience of all ages has attested, that the people are commonly most in danger, when the means of injuring their rights are in the possession of those of whom they entertain the least suspicion" (The Federalist No. 25, by Alexander Hamilton).

 

 

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Sat, 05 Jan 2013 18:00:00 -0800 Part I: Government http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government

Part I

Government

Chapters 1 to 6

 

 

James-madison-picture

James Madison

 

"Although all men are born free, and all nations might be so, yet too true it is, that slavery has been the general lot of the human race.  Ignorant--they have been cheated; asleep--they have been surprised; divided--the yoke has been forced upon them.  But what is the lesson?  That because the people may betray themselves, they ought to give themselves up, blindfold, to those who have an interest in betraying them?  Rather conclude that the people ought to be enlightened, to be awakened, to be united."  

 

James Madison, Essay:  Who Are the Keepers of the People's Liberties?  Madison served as the fourth president of the United States (1809-1817) and is considered the principal author of the United States Constitution.  In 1788, he wrote over a third of the Federalist Papers, still the most influential commentary on the Constitution.  Madison was responsible for writing the first ten amendments to the Constitution, also known as the Bill of Rights.

 

 

Image from http://www.visitingdc.com/president/james-madison-picture.htm

 

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Thu, 16 Aug 2012 11:01:00 -0700 Curriculum That Is Profoundly American http://davidanorris.posterous.com/curriculum-that-is-profoundly-american http://davidanorris.posterous.com/curriculum-that-is-profoundly-american

The proposal for education advanced by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and adopted by the University of Virginia provides an excellent formula for teaching American history and government.  It provides indisputable evidence of the American principles that are imperative for education in the taxpayer-funded classroom.

 

The resolution stated that "all students shall be inculcated with the basic American principles of government…  None should be inculcated [taught] which are incompatible with those on which the Constitution of this State, and of the United States were genuinely based, in the common opinion."  The resolution also stated that the faculty had a standard of responsibility and were required to teach affirmatively these unique American principles.  Only after they had done so were they to teach the conflicting principles as such, judging them by the soundness of the American principles that served as a basis.  The resolution then specified six writings that, in the board's opinion, reflected the unanimously supported principles unique to America that youth should be taught.  "These documents were John Locke's Essay Concerning the True Original Extent and End of Civil Government (1690), Algernon Sidney's Discourses Concerning Government (1698), the Declaration of Independence, Washington's Farewell Address, the Virginia Resolutions of 1799 (adopted by the Virginia legislature), and the Federalist Papers."*

 

The character-building curriculum now taught by homeschool parents and many Christian private schools is comparable to the curriculum taught in common schools and one-room neighborhood schools in early America.  At that time, such schools often had, say, thirty students, some at nearly every grade level, with one teacher.

 

Noah Webster's textbooks, including the Webster's Blue-Back Speller, were standard for American schools until early 1930.  Conversant in many languages, he spent several years writing the Webster's Dictionary that preceded the dictionary used in America today.  His definitions were often supported by Scripture.

 

Webster taught school in West Hartford, Connecticut, and later served as a soldier during the American Revolution.  He spent nine terms in the Connecticut legislature and three terms in the Massachusetts legislature.  A strong proponent for convening the Constitutional Convention, he wrote what became Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.

 

Webster was concerned that the youth of our nation would learn to check their emotions and avoid the fears and pitfalls of foolish imaginations.  Karl Marx stirred up the emotions of heady intellectuals.  With promises of a utopia, he captured millions who, to the great loss of their families and even nations, embraced secular popularism.  The Webster dictionary defined emotions as the "strong impression, or vivid sensation that immediately produces a reaction.  The nature of the reaction is to either 'appropriate and enjoy, or avoid and repel' the cause for the impression."**

 

Abraham Lincoln's strong foundation in language was a result of his stepmother's curriculum--the Bible and Shakespeare (The Encyclopaedia Britannica: a Dictionary of Arts, Sciences…, Vol. 16, by Hugh Chisholm, p 703).

Albert Einstein and Bill Gates were university dropouts but not learning dropouts.  They were challenged to learn about the unvarying reliability and order of creation's design.

 

American_schools

 

*Nathaniel F. Cabell, Early History of the University of Virginia, as contained in the "Letters of Thomas Jefferson and Joseph B. Cabell," (n.p.: Richmond, Virginia, 1856), 339.  Repeated in Hamilton Albert Long, The American Ideal of 1776, Your American Heritage Books, 141-44, 147.

**Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language, G. and C. Merriam Company, 1828; cited by David A. Norris, Lasting Success (Ames, IA Alpha Heartland Press, 2003), 7.

 

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Mon, 25 Jun 2012 04:36:28 -0700 The Limited Role of Judges http://davidanorris.posterous.com/the-limited-role-of-judges http://davidanorris.posterous.com/the-limited-role-of-judges

The boundaries of authority that limit the role of judges to settling disputes is mandated by the construct of the Constitution.  Chief Justice John Roberts compares the role of the judges with the role of baseball umpires.  Baseball needs umpires to call balls and strikes, but umpires are never allowed to change the rules in the middle of the game.

 

The umpire illustration is consistent with the Federalist Papers.  They were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay in 1787 and published to encourage the people in the states to ratify the Constitution.  Federalist Paper No. 78 described the judiciary as being the "least dangerous" and "weakest" of the three branches of government because it is the arbitrator of disputes:  "The judiciary… has no influence over either the sword [imposing the penalties advocated by the court] or the purse; no direction either of the strength or the wealth of society, and can take no active resolution whatever.  It may truly be said that to have neither force nor will but merely judgment; and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm for efficacy of its judgments."*

 

Defensive actions by one branch of government over another (separation of powers) is intended by the Constitution.  On occasion, the court may settle a dispute involving the other branches of government and law-making Representatives of the people may and should intervene and correct the Supreme Court.  Also, the administrative branch may challenge the courts to change a court's mandate.  The American system is "a Republic--a federation, or combination, of central and state republics--under which: the different governments will control each other…  Within each republic there are two safeguarding features: (a) a division of powers, as well as (b) a system of checks and balances between separate departments [including the judiciary]: hence a double security arises [essential] to the rights of the people" (Federalist, No. 51, by James Madison).

 

Chief Justice Marshall in Marbury v. Madison stated:  "This original and supreme will [of the people] organizes the government, and assigns, to different departments, their respective powers.  It may either stop here; or establish certain limits not to be transcended by those departments.  The government of the United States is of the latter description.  The powers of the legislature [as well as the judiciary and the administrative] are defined, and limited; and that those limits may not be mistaken, or forgotten, the Constitution is written."**  The Marbury v. Madison decision was simply to settle a dispute.  

 

The original purpose of judicial review established by the Marbury v. Madison decision was certainly NOT to empower judges to become unelected legislators or administrators.


Judicial_umpire-toon-290x201

*http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa78.htm

**http://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/democrac/9.htm

Image from http://www.thefreemanonline.org/features/of-fallible-umpires-and-rogue-judges/

 

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Fri, 08 Jun 2012 19:33:00 -0700 John Adams: A Government of Laws and Not of Men http://davidanorris.posterous.com/john-adams-a-government-of-laws-and-not-of-me http://davidanorris.posterous.com/john-adams-a-government-of-laws-and-not-of-me

John Adams used the words "government of laws, and not of men" when he wrote the Bill of Rights for the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780.*  The preamble to the Massachusetts Constitution includes:  "We, therefore, the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of the great Legislator of the universe, in affording us, in the course of His providence, an opportunity, deliberately and peaceably, without fraud, violence or surprise, of entering into an original, explicit, and solemn compact with each other; and of forming a new constitution of civil government, for ourselves and posterity; and devoutly imploring His direction in so interesting a design, do agree upon, ordain and establish the following Declaration of Rights, and Frame of Government, as the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."  The Massachusetts Bill of Rights goes on to read like the principles in the non-sectarian Creator-based Declaration of Independence.**

 

In contrast, a government "of men" rests upon revisionist morality, which makes the Constitution meaningless.  Contemporary liberals who reject the God-honoring meaning for "government of laws, and not of men" are aided by militant atheists, who not only reject "government of law," but work feverishly to eliminate all references to God in education and public discourse.  Described by Solon of Athens as "government by incalculable and changeable decrees," the religious justification for revisionist morality is a strongly held belief about life's origin, meaning and purpose:  atheistic Darwinism.***  Sold as absolute science, the demand for education exclusivity is, in reality, the religion of scientific fascism.  Liberals are constantly revising Darwin's theory because the absurdity of their science is continually being exposed.  The underlying cause of the anger and militancy for their demands becomes clear.  They must prevent any ideological competition in the taxpayer-funded classroom.  Secular militants must have total control in order to dumb the students down.

 

Elected representatives make laws and serve by the "consent of the governed," who are "endowed by their Creator" with certain unalienable rights.  This claim reaches the very heart of American society and law.  Conservative Supreme Court justices have cited the Declaration as support for their decisions over two hundred times.  The Federalist Papers, written to promote acceptance of the Constitution by the people, cited the Declaration thirty-seven times.

 

When confronting the greatest crisis since the War for Independence, Abraham Lincoln turned to the Declaration to assert the "sacred right of self-government."****

 

When the Founding Fathers undertook a long war for independence, the did not dither, knowing full well that there were huge problems such as slavery and harmful citizen voting restrictions.  Citizen awareness, prayer and the Declaration of Independence resonates with people and by the grace of God those problems in 1776 were remedied.  With citizen awareness, which we are working on, and prayer, the cancer of socialistic paternalism can be removed.

 

Stuart_adams_john_c1800_15_ngdc

John Adams

2nd President of the United States

1735 - 1826

 

*www2.bartleby.com/73/991.html

**http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/Constitution#cp00s00.htm

***Will and Ariel Durant, The Story of Civilization, Vol. II, The Life of Greece, Simon and Schuster, 1939, 118. 

****Abraham Lincoln, October 10, 1854, Peoria, Illinois, http://www.nps.gov/liho/historyculture/peoriaspeech.htm

 

 

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Tue, 22 May 2012 10:24:00 -0700 Government by Written and Permanent Law: Republic vs Regime http://davidanorris.posterous.com/government-by-written-and-permanent-law-repub http://davidanorris.posterous.com/government-by-written-and-permanent-law-repub

The American system of government is a Federal Republic, meaning a confederation of many--a central government and state governments.  James Madison describes the American system as "a Republic--a federation, or combination, of central and state republics--under which: the different governments will control each other…" (Federalist No. 51).

 

The powers are divided between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government which remain subject to the sovereignty of the people (electorate) under creation's God per the Declaration of Independence.  "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 IV, Section 4 of the United States Constitution).

 

The federal and state governments are Republics which are distinguished by the fact that they are representative and limited in their power by written constitutions (Federalist No. 45).  The citizen electorate adopts the constitutions, and they are only changeable from the original through amendment by the people.  


The law has been defined as "a set of rules for conduct prescribed by a controlling authority and having binding legal force" (Black's Law Dictionary).*  The overriding concern is: What are the beliefs of the controlling authority?  Sadly, some public servants, including some law professors, do not respect the fact that government gets its power from the sovereigns, the taxpayers who created the government and pay their salaries.

 

In Europe, kings, popes, academician elites and others claimed to be supreme.  This is comparable to what self-indulgent judges are now doing in America.  Rejecting the meaning and intent of the Constitution, they seek to impose societal values of their own choosing.  When federal laws dealing with local concerns descend downward, they become oppressive and often harmful to society.  

 

What sets the American constitution apart from those of so many other nations is that its use is rooted in the Higher Authority Judeo-Christian tradition for civil order.  The Constitution is a tool composed of directives, checks and obstacles.  When the principles of the Creator-based Declaration articulated in the Bill of Rights are upheld, the obstacles built into the Constitution become morally effective, and it becomes difficult for government employees to empower a partisan political agenda or line their pockets with taxpayers' money.

 

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force.

Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."

George Washington

 

Bigstock_american_justice_still_life_5794375_300dpi
 *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black's_Law_Dictionary

Image from http://www.wealthrecovery.net/

 

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Tue, 15 May 2012 04:12:43 -0700 Finding the Place of Personal Faith in Government http://davidanorris.posterous.com/130870924 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/130870924

The two classifications of religion, civic and personal, can live openly side by side.  The fact that Americans are free to share their personal religious convictions in public is indispensable.  Different beliefs can then be known, evaluated and decided upon by individuals.  Citizens are to be trusted with this freedom to know and choose.  This is to be respected.

 

The morality in one's personal faith and beliefs about education, government, politics and law are inseparable.  Personal faith is primary, and the nonsectarian American civic religion which is so vital to public education is the composite result.  The purity of America's civic religion that advances individual liberty is totally dependent on religious freedom, which in turn requires freedom from intimidation by government-established ideologues (educators, clergy, etc.).

 

The Founding Fathers were not only avid Creationists; they were members of many different church denominations, and the vast majority of them were, in their personal faith, born-again Christians.*

 

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:

old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

2 Corinthians 5:17

 

For you have been "born again, not of corruptible seed,

but of incorruptible, by the word of God,

which liveth and abideth for ever."

1 Peter 1:23

 

The Founding Fathers who adopted the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution came from eleven Christian groups that held different views about church ordinances, baptism, communion, church polity, discipline, worship and so on.  Alexander Hamilton said in an essay published soon after the Constitutional Convention adjourned: "For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a system, which, without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests."**  Madison expressed the same belief in The Federalist No. 37.

 

"Hast thou not known?  Hast thou not heard, [that] the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?  [There is] no searching of his understanding.  He giveth power to the faint; and to [them that have] no might he increaseth strength."

Isaiah 10:28-29

 

Colonial churches were clearly Biblical.  Schools such as Harvard and the local public grade schools were Bible-based and evangelical.  Noah Webster (1758-1843), a contributor to the Constitution and widely acknowledged as the most influential educator for over a hundred years, unabashedly proclaimed his conversion to Christ during a campus revival at Yale.***

 

Webster, who was skilled in six languages, published the American Dictionary of the English Language in 1828.  In 1833, he said, "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 [meaning republic] government."

 

Public school students must be taught to understand and appreciate the importance of the all-encompassing concept of an impartial, nonsectarian God of creation's nature.  This is America's civic religion.  Inculcation, however, in the personal faith relating to worship and a denomination's specific religious doctrine must not be allowed to become a function of government education.

 

64167_338209979564091_133149703403454_1001074_1990975054_n

 

 

*http://www.adherents.com/gov/Founding_Fathers_Religion.html

**http://www.zeios.com/OurRepublic/Author/22

***http://www.yalestandard.com/tidbits/voices-of-yales-past/

Image from https://ioan17.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/where-you-ats/

 

Note:  In the Judeo-Christian Bible, we learn of the personal faith shared by many different Christian denominations:  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:16-17).

 

Justice and grace meet at the cross of Calvary, where the price of sin was paid by Christ, Who loves us more than we love ourselves (see also Romans 5:8-9; 10:9-13 for more context of the phrase "born again").  When individuals acknowledge their need for forgiveness and humbly accept God's gift of salvation from the penalty of sin, a divine God-to-man cooperative becomes a reality.

 

For more information or to purchase Restoring Education Central to American Greatness:

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Fri, 04 May 2012 05:41:16 -0700 America's Civic Religion in Light of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln http://davidanorris.posterous.com/americas-civic-religion-in-light-of-george-wa http://davidanorris.posterous.com/americas-civic-religion-in-light-of-george-wa

George Washington and Abraham Lincoln understood that America has a civic religion.  As previously noted, this civic religion is different than the personal faith of individuals--their manner of worship, fellowship and practice.  Religion is embedded in the foundation of our government.

 

George Washington, so immersed in the entire process of the founding of this nation, praised the effectiveness of critics for insisting upon the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, and he complimented both James Madison and Alexander Hamilton for their work in writing the Federalist Papers saying,  they "have thrown new light upon the science of government; they have given the rights of man a full and fair discussion, and explained them in so clear and forcible a manner as cannot fail to make a lasting impression."

 

During the swearing-in ceremony for President Washington, he placed his hand on an open Bible at Genesis, chapter 49..  Of his own volition, he took the oath of office concluding with the precedent-setting foundation, "So help me God."  Immediately the new president bent down and kissed the sacred book (Peter A. Lillback with Jerry Newcombe, George Washington's Sacred Fire, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Dickson Press, 2006, 224).

 

In his Farewell Address of 1796, Washington reminded Americans that:  "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.  In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens.  The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them.  A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity.  Let it simply be asked:  Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation deserts the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice?  And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.  Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."*

 

Contemporary liberals insist that the Declaration of Independence has no relevance to the Constitution.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  That was the argument used by Stephen A. Douglas in the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates.  Douglas, who practiced constitutional revisionism, rejected Abraham Lincoln's insistence that moral judgment applies to situations calling for decision.  Lincoln quoted from the Declaration of Independence to affirm the moral predicate of constitutional law.

 

The following is from Lincoln's Peoria speech, October 16, 1854:  "I have quoted so much [of the Declaration] at this time to show that according to our ancient faith, the just powers of government are derived from the consent of the governed.  Now the relation of masters and slaves is, pro tanto, a total violation of this principle.  The master not only governs the slave without his consent:  but he governs him by a set of rules altogether different from those he prescribes for himself.  Allow all the governed an equal voice in their government, and that, and that only, is self-government."  Harry V. Jaffa, reviewing Lincoln's speech, added, "Aristotle, in his only reference to piety in the Nicomachean Ethics, says that virtue requires us to honor truth before our friends.  That is because we would not otherwise be worth having as friends."**

 

"I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man."

Abraham Lincoln

 

Presidents-day

 

 

*George Washington, Farewell Address, http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=15

**Harry V. Jaffa, "In Defense of Political Philosophy," National Review, January 22, 1982, http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/6068362/defense-political-philosophy

 

Image from http://aillschristianchurch.com/tag/lanny/

 

For more information or to purchase Restoring Education Central to American Greatness:

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Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:06:00 -0800 American Principle Thirteen: Government Power and Taxes Must Be Limited For Liberty's Sake http://davidanorris.posterous.com/american-principle-thirteen-government-power http://davidanorris.posterous.com/american-principle-thirteen-government-power

 

"… imposing Taxes on us without our Consent …"

Declaration of Independence

 

Low taxes and limited government are indispensable supports for property ownership and liberty.  "He [the King] has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance" (Declaration of Independence).

 

Alexander Hamilton, in the Federalist No. 17* emphasizes that taxes should not be imposed at the federal level that enable the federal government to do things that go beyond their enumerated powers. That would take money from the people that should be available for state and local government needs (in effect, enabling federal usurpers to prevent the function of government that is closest to the people). 

 

Government debt that exceeds income cripples nations in the same devastating way that it cripples individuals, families and corporations.  "Indeed, we cannot too often inculcate upon you our desires, that all extraordinary grants and expensive measures may, upon all occasions, as much as possible, be avoided.  The public money of this country is the toil and labor of the people …" (written by representatives of the town of Braintree, Massachusetts, to their legislative representative, Braintree Records, 1765-66).

Image_tax_revenue

A full discussion of these vital American Principles can be found in my book, Restoring Education Central to American Greatness.

 

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http://www.amazon.com/Restoring-Education-Greatness-Principles-Liberated/dp/1...

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*http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/fed/blfed17.htm

 

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Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:47:00 -0800 American Principle Ten: Government Must Be Decentralized http://davidanorris.posterous.com/american-principle-ten-government-must-be-dec http://davidanorris.posterous.com/american-principle-ten-government-must-be-dec

"…repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny [British King] over these States."

Declaration of Independence

 

Officials who bypass the principles of limited government are suppressing the supreme right of the people to rule.  Such officials have violated their duties as trustees and are in effect usurpers, oppressors and tyrants.

 

The American system is "a Republic--a federation, or combination, of central and state republics--under which: the different governments will control each other…  Within each republic there are two safeguarding features: (a) a division of powers, as well as (b) a system of checks and balances between separate departments: hence a double security arises [essential] to the rights of the people."

(James Madison, Federalist, No. 51, 1788)

 

Regarding the federal government usurping essential citizen rights, "True barriers [for] of our liberty are our State governments."

(President Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address, 1801, http://www.thefederalistpapers.org/founders/jefferson/thomas-jefferson-first-...

 

"The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern; some of them in our country and under our own eyes.  To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them."

(George Washington's Farewell Address, 1796, http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=15)

 

"Bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possesses their equal rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate would be oppression."

(President Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address, 1801, http://www.thefederalistpapers.org/founders/jefferson/thomas-jefferson-first-... 

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Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:02:00 -0800 American Principle Two: God Is the Source of Unalienable Rights http://davidanorris.posterous.com/american-principle-two-god-is-the-source-of-u http://davidanorris.posterous.com/american-principle-two-god-is-the-source-of-u

“All men are … endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Declaration of Independence

 

“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 …”

Preamble, Constitution of Iowa, adopted in 1846—

seventy years after the Declaration of Independence

Image_patch

Belief in a Higher Authority also believes in the opposite side of the coin:  that man does not originate law, God does.  Legislators articulate this pre-existing law and give it particular applications to changing circumstances.

 

During the 1765 crisis caused by the king's Stamp Act, John Adams, when writing the Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, August 12, 1765, the Boston Gazette, pointed out that liberty was not man's creation or something radically new to the world, but rights "derived from our Maker," rights "indisputable, unalienable," "inherent," "essential," "divine" and even acknowledged since the Middle Ages by British law.

 

"We further recommend the most clear and explicit assertion and vindication of our rights and liberties to be entered on the public records, that the world may know, in present and all future generations, that we have a clear knowledge and a just sense of them, and, with submission to Divine Providence that we never can be slaves" (John Adams, pictured below, adopted on October 14, 1765, by the town meeting of Braintree, Massachusetts, and sent to their representatives in the Massachusetts state legislature).

 

Those who reject God's authority and proceed to fix the rights of others are, by definition, false gods and, in practice, become tyrants.  Alexander Hamilton, in The Federalist, No. 78, says:  "A constitution is, in fact, and must be regarded by the judges, as a fundamental law."  When a particular statute violates the meaning of the Constitution, it is the duty of judicial tribunals to disregard it and adhere to the Constitution.  

 

"The sacred Rights of mankind are not to be rummaged from among old parchments or musty records.  They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the Hand of the Divinity itself, and can never be erased or voided or obscured by mortal power" (teachingamericanhistory.org, Alexander Hamilton, The Farmer Refuted, 1775).

 

Education in America today is energizing the enemies of the family, self-rule, prosperity and liberty because it does not emphasize that man’s unalienable rights are the gift of God.

Inalienable_rights

A full discussion of these vital American Principles can be found in my book, Restoring Education Central to American Greatness.  For more information or to purchase the book:

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