Thursday, July 1, 2010

THIS IS MY COUNTRY!

Why Laurie? Why would you write something so openly "political" in what we regard as a "devotional" blog? What about the separation of church and state?

I'm so glad you asked ...

First, there is nothing in the Constitution of the United States of America, pertaining to the separation of church and state. Second, when Thomas Jefferson wrote of it, it was to protect the church from the state - not the state from the church. Having given that brief introduction:

John Hancock penned the cover letter accompanying the Declaration of Independence.

"Gentlemen, Altho it is not possible to foresee the consequences of human actions, yet it is nevertheless a duty we owe ourselves and posterity in all our public councils to decide in the best manner we are able and to trust the event to That Being who governs both causes and events, so as to bring about his own determinations."

Impressed with this sentiment, and at the same time fully convinced that our affairs will take a more favorable turn, The Congress have judged it necessary to dissolve all connection between Great Britain and the American Colonies, and to declare them free and independent States as you will perceive by the enclosed Declaration, which I am directed to transmit to you."

Fifty-six men pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to the citizens who empowered them to sign this Declaration of Independence on their behalf. The majority, indeed, paid a horrific price.

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary War, another had two sons captured. Nine of the fifty-six fought and died from wounds or the hardships of the Revolutionary War. The list of hardship that awaited each signer goes on and on.

Of the signers twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners, men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

As we celebrate the 234th anniversary of their Declaration; I ask, IS IT STILL OURS? Is it a document by which each of us stands as free and independent citizens, of all nationalities, of all race and color, of all religious, political and personal preference? Or is this a relic of a time gone by? We can only judge by the actions of those who sit in that body of Congress today.

Two-hundred and thirty four years later, does OUR CONGRESS, consist of representatives with the same honor and commitment?

Lawyers and jurists, merchants, farmers, business owners, people of all walks of life continue to sit in those seats of honor. However, I am fearful that as they sign their names to the affairs of state it is we the people, and our posterity, who pay a horrific price.

Party affiliation is not the question. The original congress was comprised of men of HONOR AND DISSENT. However, they strove for, and many died for, a cause greater than their individual or party bias! It was a Declaration of INDEPENDENCE not DEPENDENCE! It was a life and death fight for the freedom of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness - NOT FOT THOSE IN POWER - BUT FOR THE CITIZENS THEY REPRESENTED!

“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, -- That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

I believe that there has been a, “long train of abuses” spanning several administrations and BOTH POLITICAL PARTIES. As unpopular as it may be, WE THE PEOPLE have the right, AND A SACRED RESPONSIBILITY to one another and our posterity, to secure these rights as originally intended. We do so by our vote and the time to administer change is NOW. Not because of the current administration - it is all too unfortunate that a self-indulgence of power has long been the established protocol in each administration. No, it is rather because of the insufferable burden OUR CONGRESS continues to habitually saddled upon the backs of, “we the people” who placed them in positions of what was intended to be representative authority.

THIS IS NOT THE GOVERNMENTS CONGRESS - THIS IS MY CONGRESS. I AM NOT A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD, I AM A PROUD CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! THIS IS NOT THE GOVERNMENTS COUNTRY, THIS IS MY COUNTRY - AND I WANT IT BACK!

God Bless America!

7 comments:

  1. Wow. Great post! I have a few things in response...

    First off, although I hate to begin my response with taking an issue, but I fundamentally disagree with your notion that the Constitution of the United States was not partially intended to separate church and state. I do believe that when the First Amendment states that Congress shall not govern with respect to any specific creed, government and religion are being clearly separated. I do think it’s contradictory to say that the Constitution was meant to protect the church from the government, yet at the same time support the notion that there isn’t a constitutional separation. I agree with you that the Constitution was written to protect the church, however, I do believe that in the same light, the document is also protecting the state from the church, which is indeed, a separation. Many of the founders, from Franklin, to Paine, and to Jefferson, were Deists if not outright agnostic or closet atheists. This is bordering speculation, however, upon further review and research, one will be able to understand why many historians genuinely believe that many of our founders were not only incredibly non-religious, but were very pessimistic towards religion, and wanted to protect the state from it. The Constitution’s lack of any referral to “Jesus” or “God” or “the bible” when many state constitutions did so, and many official declarative writings from other countries did so as well, demonstrates the secular foundation of our nations founding. The Treaty of Tripoli, written in 1796, clearly states in Article XI that our nation is "in no sense founded on the Christian religion". I could begin quoting Madison, Jefferson, Washington, etc. with regard to their feelings on faith and religion, but it’s nothing that isn’t easily accessible for anyone to see.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Moving on to where I agree with you more... the United States Congress, especially the Senate, is out of control. This body, which was created to represent the People of this nation, is being fueled by special interests and outside influence that has completely drowned out the voices of those who pay the salaries of these politicians. Thanks to special interest Political Action Committees (PACs), perpetuated to their highest levels by the Republican Party during the “Conservative Revolution” of the 90s through the K Street Project, led by Republican Congressman Tom DeLay, our Congress is bombarded on a daily basis with pressure from private business and their interests. Another catastrophe, which will only inject speed into this problem, was the Supreme Court’s recent decision to throw out a century of upheld precedent, and allow any company from any industry, foreign or domestic, to limitlessly contribute political media to any candidate or cause.

    I understand your blaming of both parties in this situation, however, I think it is extremely unfair to group the Democratic Party in the same category as the Republican Party with respect to lobbyists and special interest PACs. Conservatives (not that you’re one) do a great job at muddying up the waters on issues like this... for example, dismissing the claim that the GOP took 98% more money from BP than Obama did when he ran for President, as equal, because Obama took a ton of money from unions. Why is this equal? Because unions don’t support GOP candidates? Precisely. The only issue with this laughable logic is that unions function to protect workers, and BP functions to protect profits. Obama took less than $100,000 from BP, which is considered a simple company donation. This type of spinning and twisting is something that does exist in both parties, however, the GOP quite often takes the cake. The other part of this point is how the Republican Party has frozen the Senate. The GOP in this congress, this past year, has used the filibuster more times than it has EVER been used in history. In 2008-2009, the GOP filibustered 112 times. The most the Democrats have ever used it was 58 times in 1999-2000.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/01/gop-filibuster-record-rep_n_480722.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. Moving on to where I agree with you more... the United States Congress, especially the Senate, is out of control. This body, which was created to represent the People of this nation, is being fueled by special interests and outside influence that has completely drowned out the voices of those who pay the salaries of these politicians. Thanks to special interest Political Action Committees (PACs), perpetuated to their highest levels by the Republican Party during the “Conservative Revolution” of the 90s through the K Street Project, led by Republican Congressman Tom DeLay, our Congress is bombarded on a daily basis with pressure from private business and their interests. Another catastrophe, which will only inject speed into this problem, was the Supreme Court’s recent decision to throw out a century of upheld precedent, and allow any company from any industry, foreign or domestic, to limitlessly contribute political media to any candidate or cause.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I understand your blaming of both parties in this situation, however, I think it is extremely unfair to group the Democratic Party in the same category as the Republican Party with respect to lobbyists and special interest PACs. Conservatives (not that you’re one) do a great job at muddying up the waters on issues like this... for example, dismissing the claim that the GOP took 98% more money from BP than Obama did when he ran for President, as equal, because Obama took a ton of money from unions. Why is this equal? Because unions don’t support GOP candidates? Precisely. The only issue with this laughable logic is that unions function to protect workers, and BP functions to protect profits. Obama took less than $100,000 from BP, which is considered a simple company donation. This type of spinning and twisting is something that does exist in both parties, however, the GOP quite often takes the cake. The other part of this point is how the Republican Party has frozen the Senate. The GOP in this congress, this past year, has used the filibuster more times than it has EVER been used in history. In 2008-2009, the GOP filibustered 112 times. The most the Democrats have ever used it was 58 times in 1999-2000.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/01/gop-filibuster-record-rep_n_480722.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Republican Party’s coziness to lobbyists and blatant obstructionism are the reasons why the US Congress has gotten to be as bad as it is. Not that the Democrats are perfect, however, given the precedent that President Obama set with his refusal to take special interest PAC money, the DNC and its candidates have drastically decreased in recent years in their financial contributions received from special interest PACs and lobbyists. The GOP has a different story, and they seem to be showing now sign of change.

    I appreciate your want for balance of religion and government, however, I do not think the two can coexist together without strong laws separating them. It is difficult to reach this compromise when our government is broken, and can’t even compromise on an energy policy (apparently, the BP oil spill wasn’t enough for the GOP... Maybe we should apologize to BP again for making them feel so bad about all this).

    The current administration has inherited an unprecedented mess, and has also taken unprecedented action to unite an unprecedentedly divided Congress. I give massive kudos to the Obama Administration, and all the chaos that it is successfully pulling through. I applaud it for the long list of accomplishments it has already made, from the stimulus package, which prevented us from going into a depression, to the health care bill (which was a great step towards single payer). All the Limbaugh’s and Beck’s, all the McCain’s and McConnell’s, and all the Palin’s and Bachmann’s have not been able to derail this administration... And I truly believe the reason is because this executive branch has no pressure to back down like others have had before, and that’s because 80% of what put President Obama in office was an average of a $100 donation over the internet from millions of ordinary Americans, myself being one of them.

    We may not see precisely eye to eye here, but we share a common purpose. We both see the same mountain top, I’m just a few miles left of you on another trail headed to the same place! See you there!

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Republican Party’s coziness to lobbyists and blatant obstructionism are the reasons why the US Congress has gotten to be as bad as it is. Not that the Democrats are perfect, however, given the precedent that President Obama set with his refusal to take special interest PAC money, the DNC and its candidates have drastically decreased in recent years in their financial contributions received from special interest PACs and lobbyists. The GOP has a different story, and they seem to be showing now sign of change.

    I appreciate your want for balance of religion and government, however, I do not think the two can coexist together without strong laws separating them. It is difficult to reach this compromise when our government is broken, and can’t even compromise on an energy policy (apparently, the BP oil spill wasn’t enough for the GOP... Maybe we should apologize to BP again for making them feel so bad about all this).

    ReplyDelete
  7. The current administration has inherited an unprecedented mess, and has also taken unprecedented action to unite an unprecedentedly divided Congress. I give massive kudos to the Obama Administration, and all the chaos that it is successfully pulling through. I applaud it for the long list of accomplishments it has already made, from the stimulus package, which prevented us from going into a depression, to the health care bill (which was a great step towards single payer). All the Limbaugh’s and Beck’s, all the McCain’s and McConnell’s, and all the Palin’s and Bachmann’s have not been able to derail this administration... And I truly believe the reason is because this executive branch has no pressure to back down like others have had before, and that’s because 80% of what put President Obama in office was an average of a $100 donation over the internet from millions of ordinary Americans, myself being one of them.

    We may not see precisely eye to eye here, but we share a common purpose. We both see the same mountain top, I’m just a few miles left of you on another trail headed to the same place! See you there!

    ReplyDelete