Filed under: freedom

Part I: Government

American Principle Seven (Part I)

 

The Moral Duties Of Civility Are Also a Predicate

For Interpreting Constitutional Meaning

 

"We hold these truths to be self-evident ..."

Declaration of Independence

 

"Tis substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.  Who that is a sincere friend to it, can look with Indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric?"

George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796

 

 

"Laws of Nature and of Nature's God"* morality fits into the behavioral envelope that supports life, truthfulness and the Golden Rule, meaning treating others in ways that one would like to be treated and would like loved ones to be treated.  Immorality includes those traits called sin that fall outside the envelope of life.

 

Together, morality and work ethic is the engine that liberates mankind from the tyranny of aggressive government employees.  Liberty from intrusive government makes it possible for the people to market their skills to own property essential for maintaining independence and happiness.

 

"Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains on their own appetites.  Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere… men of intemperate minds cannot be free.  Their passions forget their fetters" (Edmund Burke, British supporter of the American Revolution, November 3, 1774, speech to the electors of Bristol, England, quoted by HIllsdale College, Imprimis, Vol. 20, No. 9).

 

The atheistic-secular philosophy for law identifies with what Solon of Athens described as "government by incalculable and changeable decrees" (Will and Ariel Durant, The Story of Civilization, Vol. II, The Life of Greece, Simon and Schuster, 1939, 118).  Secularism is an evil repudiation of the solid basis for prosperity and citizen self-government intended by Constitutional law.

 

Government potential for power as well as the lucrative public treasury attract politicians who are intent on self-aggrandizement and conquest.  Expressed by President Ronald Reagan: "Government is not the solution to our problems, it is the problem" (Inaugural Address, 1981).  "A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position.  The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositaries, 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, Farewell Address, 1796).

 

*The phrase "Nature's God" used in the Declaration of Independence did not originate with Americans.  The Laws of Nature's God include the Biblical standards of morality.  When the bond between God and man was broken in the Garden of Eden, the forces of evil that seek to defy creation's nature were unleashed.  "The law of nature was a common term used by historic legal writers such as Grotius, Burlamaqui, Blackstone and others.  The law of nature's God, a lesser used term, was more commonly called the divine law, or the revealed law" (Lonang Historical Reference Works).

http://www.lonang.com/exlibris/index.html

 

 

 

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Part I: Government

American Principle Five

 

Liberty--From Oppression By Big Government

and Nongovernment Authoritarians--Is Vital

 

"unalienable Rights, that among these are … liberty."

Declaration of Independence

 

 

"Liberty and life are the gratuitous gifts of heaven.  I shall certainly be excused from adducing any formal arguments to evince, that life, and whatever is necessary for the safest of life, are the natural rights of man.  Some things are so difficult; others are so plain, that they cannot be proved" (Supreme Court Justice James Wilson, Lectures, delivered in the College of Philadelphia, 1790-1791).

 

Liberty, in the context of the Declaration of Independence and Preamble to the Constitution, means freedom from government activity that would undermine the development of citizen self-reliance.  Not only must those in the judicial branch of government support the meaning and intent of the Constitution for God-honoring education curriculum, the people's money should not be used to buy political advantage.  When politicians continually manage to have welfare payments given to healthy people when jobs remain available, they are promoting a growing block of dependent citizens within the population.  Once reduced to dependence on government, the fiscal and sociological consequences to society become permanent.  These people soon figure out that by electing liberals, they can become work-free.  Helping those who are incapable for reasons beyond their control is, of course, man's duty and beneficial to all.

 

"Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift of God?  That they are not violated but with His wrath?  Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just:  that His justice cannot sleep forever" (Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia Q.XVIII, 1782. ME 2:227).  Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and third President of the United States.

 

The Constitution, starting with We the people, was designed to identify and remove authoritarian cheats from power in government.  Many of those cheats remain unpunished, but, in the recent past, one president of the United States was forced to resign because of dishonest claims.  Another president was required to testify before a citizen grand jury and later found to be guilty of perjury (telling lies under oath) and obstruction of justice, and was impeached by the House of Representatives.  This only works when all men are equal in the sight of God and the law, and when the laws reflect justice.

 

Leaders are important, but leaders must be held accountable to the judgment of the people.

 

 

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Part I: Government

American Principle Four (Part II)

 

All Men Are Equal

In the Sight Of God and the Law

 

"that all men are created equal ..."

Declaration of Independence

 

 

The Bible's Priesthood of Believers doctrine points to the direct God-to-man relationship that has liberated countless millions of people from exploitation by truth trashers.  People cherish a system that defines the truth as a gift from God, unchanging and always applicable.  They appreciate a system that respects the right to enjoy the fruit of one's labor and freedom to exchange enhanced products for prosperity.  Recognized anew during the Great Reformation (1500-1570), it is part of the American Judeo-Christian heritage.  The God-to-man relationship is a protective covenant.  People may choose to avoid deception imposed by authoritarians by going directly to God's Word and, when interpreted as such, learn the TRUTH.  Protected by the religious liberty amendment, until twisted by judges, the First Amendment freed the people from the tyranny of ideological truth trashers.

 

When adopted both religiously and educationally, Priesthood of Believers diminished the ability of truth and knowledge trashers and generated the greatest expanse of human ingenuity and prosperity in history.

 

The Judeo-Christian faith is not a religion that is forcefully imposed on the people.  Acceptance is a personal choice.  Paralleling Biblical morality, the Creator-based Declaration of Independence serves as America's impartial Civic Religion for public life.  Immigrants come to America by the millions because they can be free from the inequality of authoritarian rule.  For some readers, this may seem beside the point, but the Judeo-Christian Bible, though thousands of years old, has been the most popular book throughout history, by far.  Pilgrim's Progress, a book composed of Christian allegory by John Bunyan, was published in February, 1678.  Written almost 350 years ago, Pilgrim's Progress is thought to be second only to the Bible in existent numbers today.

 

Only when public alarm leads to changes in the judicial branch, and the meaning of the First Amendment again becomes law, can education become free from the enemies of religious liberty and citizen self-government.  This would put an end to the use of government-powered lawsuits by men intent on defiling society.  "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press …" (from the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America).

 

 

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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.

 

 

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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.

 

 

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Introduction I

The 2012 first edition blog of the above book picked up over 9,000 repeat users.  Directly and indirectly, we were able to answer several hundred questions.  Encouraging responses came from many.  Perhaps the most exciting was an email from Judge Robert Bork's secretary.  

 

As reported in the Ames (Iowa) Tribune, a March, 2008 legislative proposal for union contract negotiators that would make it even harder to fire harmful teachers caused "grave concerns" among school administrators.  Margaret Buckton, chief lobbyist for the Iowa Association of School Boards, said, "Attempts to remove a teacher can last years and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars."  "Grave concerns" is right.  Documented in the Restoring Education Central to American Greatness book, a significantly higher percentage of public school teachers send their children to private schools than do non-teacher parents.  They see the harmful impact that secular absolutism is having upon students' minds and values.  Power-hungry ideologues are now soliciting and ruining a new generation of Americans "with words calculated to destroy the youthful faith in their heritage" (Grand Jury Presentment, 11th Judicial District in and for Story County, Iowa, December, 1968).  Undoubtedly, restoring education central to American greatness is now the greatest singular need in America.

 

The Founding Fathers knew from history that centralized power left unchecked leads to tyranny.  They instituted the Second Amendment to keep guns in the hands of the general public to discourage the use of guns by radical politicians, but this does not keep them from being habitual truth-trashers.

 

To justify taxpayer funding, American history and the Judeo-Christian influence upon the Founding Fathers must be unabashedly taught.  Only with this knowledge can new generations of Americans identify truth-trashers and prevent the deceptive advance of oppressive government.  Those demanding curriculum diversity that undermines the absolutes gleaned from history (traditional American foundations) can pay for their own schools and seek a following, just as must other separatist groups.  The demand of traditionalists is based upon the justification for any education tax being placed upon Americans in the FIRST PLACE.  No other argument is needed, but it must be firmly and uncompromisingly imposed.  "A house divided against itself cannot stand" (Abraham Lincoln, June 16, 1858).  A nation cannot survive if its citizens continue to fund revisionist morality and anti-American rhetoric masquerading as education.

 

Subjects Covered By

Restoring Education Central to American Greatness

 

Part I: Government

Chapter 1

  • Immortal Principles Central to Liberty and American Greatness

Chapter 2

  • The Sovereignty of Man under the Impartial God of Creation over Government

Chapter 3

  • Man May Prosper in Freedom If He Chooses to Honor the Will of Creation’s God

Chapter 4

  • America’s Civic Religion and the Deeper Personal Faith of Our Nation’s Founders

Chapter 5

  • Government by Written and Permanent Law

Chapter 6

  • Defilement of the Judiciary

 

Part II: Education

Chapter 7

  • Academic Freedom and Teacher Tenure History

Chapter 8 

  • Consequences of the Unionization of Government Teachers

Chapter 9

  • The Education Nightmare

Chapter 10

  • Education That Is Profoundly American

 

Part III: Liberty and Responsibility

Chapter 11

  • Appeasement Will Not Work

Chapter 12

  • Our Strategy for Victory: Political Action—Citizen Power

 

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The First Amendment is the Most Important Amendment

The most important of all the amendments to our Constitution is the First Amendment:  "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

 

In the 1947 Everson v. Board of Education decision, the Supreme Court majority discarded the principle for control of government by law (government limited by laws instituted by citizen sovereigns).  They displaced it with control of government by man (top down authoritarianism).  Quoting Alexander Hamilton:  "Government is frequently and aptly classed under two descriptions, a government of FORCE [changeable decrees by authoritarian man], and a government of LAWS [governments that derive 'their just powers' from the consent of the governed], the first is the definition of despotism--the last Liberty" (Tully Papers, 1794).  These two approaches to governing society have been at war against one another throughout human history.

 

The Everson v. Board of Education decision clearly compromised "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…" The judges altered the Constitution at the core of its meaning.  Power-hungry judges and politicians, along with fellow travelers in education, the media and monopoly union bosses, are now working overtime.  They are leveraging the judge-created right that empowers liberals to impose government establishment monopoly in public education, preventing the competition of ideas by moral religions.  The power to impose false renditions of truth upon  captive government classrooms and poison youthful minds is being used to confuse, marginalize and rule new generations.

 

"For many years psychologists and educators have recognized the processes by which thought and behavioral patterns acquired in youth become the basis for adult motivation.  In modern times thoughtful observers have become progressively aware that moral, social, and political concepts implanted during the time of mental immaturity not only participate in the conduct of later life, but, once acquired, such concepts become dominant and often unalterable in the adult" (Story County Grand Jury, in and for the 11th Judicial District of Iowa, 1969).

 

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The First Amendment

The most important of all the amendments is the First Amendment.  This is demonstrably true.  It was not until secular militants were leveraged by the 1947 Supreme Court's Everson v. Board of Education decision that the role of moral absolutes ceased to be standard in government schools.

 

On September 25, 1789, Congress requested unanimously that President Washington proclaim a national day of thanksgiving and prayer.  This is the same Congress that on the same day approved the final draft of the First Amendment to protect the people's rights to religious freedom from suppression by government administrators, judges and legislators.  President Washington proclaimed on October 3, 1798:  "Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor…  Now, therefore, I do recommend… that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed…  And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions… And to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue."*

 

The First Amendment was added to the Constitution to emphasize the proper use of the Constitution as a tool to protect and uphold religious freedom.  This freedom enables the religious denominations to compete in public, including education.  This, in turn, sharpens the importance of moral absolutes in the minds of citizens who are the sovereigns under God over government.  For most of our history, the Judeo-Christian basis for citizen self-rule has been vigorously taught.  Non-denominational prayers and the Pledge of Allegiance were practiced in classrooms.  For several decades now the moral religions, most directly Christianity, have been under systematic attack by liberal judges.  Americans can agree with the following quote as long as any conflict between amendments to the Constitution are reconciled by having the First Amendment, in its original meaning up until 1947, upheld as supreme.

 

"A constitution, like any other document, is to be read as a whole.  The court, in the language of the lawyers, 'will take the instrument by its four corners' and read each part in the light of the rest.  Since written constitutions come into effect through popular assent, the meaning intended by the people would be sought by the courts.  The common understanding of the words at the time the language was employed is therefore of cogent significance.  This consideration, however, will not prevent the application of the terms employed to conditions arising later and not contemplated at the time the language was adopted…  There is an ancient rule of statutory construction, coming down through Blackstone, that in seeking the true meaning of legislative language the court will take cognizance of the 'old law, the mischief and the remedy.'  The rule is useful in constitutional construction" (Rosco Pound, Dean of the Law School of Harvard University, Volume III, National Law Library, P. F. Collier & Son Publishers, New York, New York, 1939, 23-24).

 

*http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/GW/gw004.html


 

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Part Ten: Grand Jury Presentment of "Problems in Higher Education"

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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Part Eight: Grand Jury Presentment of "Problems in Higher Education"

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.

 

Most Important Educational Change Needed

 

1.  Regents' policy changes which will sufficiently define and implement the elimination of moral pollution by faculty and paid speakers will by all suitable means encourage "moral… improvement" (Constitution of the State of Iowa, Article IX, 2nd School… Sec. 3).

 

2.  There is a need for increased emphasis on the American ideal at all levels of education.  We believe this ideal needs to be a continuing emphasis from kindergarten through maturity.  Our revolutionary concepts are a most exciting and important subject.

 

It seems rather clear that the nerve center for society, the power for social revolution, is inherent in the adult electorate rather than in the schools, and that the radical missionaries should be sent to the electorate, not to the captive audience of youthful minds.

 

The idea… that the people of this land should not be trusted with the complexities of education is absurd.  The greatness of America places the educational and political emphasis under the control of the people.  This approach is much safer than providing a haven [tenure guarantees] for… teachers.

 

Our soldiers have been dying for this ideal.  Education, as never before, should clearly teach it.  Even in imperfection, it has achieved greatness for Americans unparalleled in history.  Every individual is important, and the mature public make the decisions over government--something that atheistic, humanist-based governments do not and cannot provide.

 

Right of Taxpayers to Control Education Challenged

 

Who has academic freedom, the parent/taxpayer or the teacher?  Is the parent, who once had academic freedom, now to be deprived because a teacher was hired?  Most agree that anyone can teach what he pleases on his own, but must not [take advantage of his own] academic freedom by robbing taxpayers of their freedom to direct public education in the public's interest, based upon the learning process and established knowledge.

 

Problems Compound If Not Corrected

 

No single level of education should be considered in a vacuum…  But it is going on!  The students of colleges are, after all, the graduates of American elementary and secondary schools.  We, the adults and teachers of today, are the graduates of high schools, colleges, and universities in the recent past.  Not only are various levels of American education interrelated, but the problems also feed back upon one another to produce a complex of relationships that affect us all and must be handled wisely.  In professions such as medicine or architecture, failures soon become apparent and are corrected.  A faulty experiment impacting the socio/political mindset may not be detected for two or three generations, when it is too late to reverse and avoid disaster.

 

Academic_freedom

 

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