Accurately Placed Respect?

As you can see from the image on the left, the 226 years that have passed since Jacob Shallus put quill to animal skin, has taken its toll on the physical properties of the United States Constitution. But sadly, a heavier and much more dangerous toll has been inflicted upon what is still today our primary governing document. The toll inflicted by ignorance and wickedness among those governed by it, is threatening our Republic unlike no other time in history.

I often get push back from well meaning Christians for not respecting the President. When this happens, it makes me wonder how anyone can honestly pay attention to what the current President is doing, and what he proposes to do, and still honestly tell me they respect him...If you fall into this category...you have a serious problem. I make no secret of the fact that I have no respect whatsoever for the President. However, I have great respect for the office of the President of the United States, which makes it all the more imperative that I call him out for his statements and his actions.

Permit me to explain a little bit more in depth about this. To do that, we have to start with some basic facts about our Constitution. We are a nation of laws…the United States Constitution sets forth the Rule of Law for our nation. It establishes the parameters under which our federal government can operate, no more, no less. By its very nature, the United States Constitution or Federal Constitution as it is sometimes referred to, is a document of limited powers (ceded up by the states in order to create a limited central government) and a list of "enumerated" individual rights to be retained by all the citizenry. The framers of the document set forth the premise in Article VI that the United States Constitution is the Supreme Law of the land. From this fact comes the principle that the United States Constitution is the Rule of Law. Article VI states that there is no higher law, the United States Constitution is supreme to all federal law. Consequently, all federal law enacted must be enacted “pursuant” to the Constitution. This means that federal law cannot contravene (violate) the Constitution. Article VI also states that the United States Constitution is supreme above all state Constitutions and state laws. I mention this to remind us that there is NO law, NO office, and NO individual office holder that is above the United States Constitution. Indeed all Federal Office holders swear an oath to the United States Constitution.

 

Law Above Men

The idea that "we need to respect the President", or any other office holder for that matter, no matter what they say or do...while it may sound moralistic and high minded…reveals very deep ignorance of the United States Constitution and how our government works. Our founders set up a system unlike no other in history...we respect law above men. The founders came from a worldview where subjects were required to respect men (a King) above law (Rex Lex), so they implicitly and intentionally set up a system from a biblical worldview wherein we respect law above men (Lex Rex). The United States Constitution is the highest law of the land, again, that’s why officials take an oath to it. Therefore you are required...and as a Christian...it is your duty to respect the highest man made Law (Constitution) above any man.

The well meaning Christians I mentioned above will frequently quote or mention the thirteenth chapter of the book of Romans for a warning to be "subject to the governing authorities”. The problem here is that the "authority" in the context of Romans 13 is not a man under our system of government...it’s the law. We have rampant ignorance of this simple but profound truth in our country today. If you hold the position that you respect the President of the United States...three things are in play...(1) you are grossly ignorant of current events, (2) you are ignorant of our Constitution and our Republic, and (3) most importantly if you’re a Christian, you are ignorant of your responsibility under God's law.

The larger question that we should be asking ourselves here is why are there so many that think this way today? How did we get to the point where so few understand this very basic information? I am reminded of an event that took place in the heat of June 1788. The place was Richmond, Virginia, the setting…the Virginia Ratification Convention for the new United States Constitution. The elected delegates from all over the commonwealth had assembled to determine whether or not Virginia would ratify the new Federal Constitution. The list of delegates is legendary, men like Patrick Henry, James Madison, John Marshall, George Mason, and James Monroe, I could go on and on…a virtual who’s who of framers and founders. Heated debate was the order of the day. On one hand the Federalists were pushing the new Constitution due to the utter failure of the Articles of Confederation, the fledgling nations first set of bylaws. On the other hand were Anti Federalists, men who feared an all too powerful central government. After much heated debate, which in one instance almost produced a duel…a man little known to us today, a man by the name of George Nicholas rose to his feet to address the raucous assembly.

George Nicholas's comment that sweltering day was simple but contained a profound message that rings powerful 226 years later… a message we need to hear loud and clear today. His statement…“An enlightened people will never suffer what was established for their security to be perverted to an act of tyranny.” Do you see the operative word in Mr. Nicholas’s statement? He said “an enlightened people”. The premise of Mr. Nicholas statement was absolutely correct...that is, if we had an enlightened citizenry. An enlightened citizenry would be needed to safeguard the Constitution against men that would ignore it, or pervert it. Today we have a completely unenlightened citizenry; therefore many of our elected leaders...not only the President...but many in the congress and the judiciary blatantly ignore the Rule of Law in carrying out the duties of their office.  Ultimately we bear the responsibility for permitting them to do this without holding them accountable.  But how can an unenlightened citizenry hold anyone accountable?

My friends, today instead of getting upset or agitated at my position of not respecting the President, or any other elected official for that manner…it’s time to get educated on the truth of the Rule of Law, the truth about what authority we respect above all others in our government, and the truth that we are a nation of “unenlightened” citizens. We need to become an enlightened citizenry with respect to the Rule of Law and how our government is supposed to operate under it. The Constitution of the United States is not difficult to understand. While Constitutional Law can be deep...it is not always deep. One does not have to be a Constitutional attorney in order to understand its principles and to be able to identify when it is being ignored, perverted, and violated.

Honor God for what he has given us...a Rule of Law, higher than men.  No other nation on the face of the earth has this kind of Constitutional government founded and set up under God's principles. Worship Him today by using your time and opportunities to learn it. There are many ways to do this, and I would be glad to point you to my free course online to help facilitate your "enlightenment" today.

Making The Connection

I was honored beyond measure today. I had been invited as the guest speaker at the monthly meeting / luncheon for the Exchange Club of Charleston. This is the civic organization that puts on the Coastal Carolina Fair every year and uses the proceeds to support local charities. Let me clarify, I was honored not because they asked me to speak on the United States Constitution and the Rule of Law, I was honored because I got to sit next to a legend at the head table.

Seated next to me today was a 93 year old gentleman that was being honored by the Exchange Club for his service to our nation.  Bernard Warshaw was born in 1920 and served under General George Patton at the Battle of the Bulge from December 1944 – January 1945.  This man captured my attention as soon as I shook his hand and began to get acquainted with him. Being a lover of history, I began to pick his brain for his memories as we ate lunch together, he told me that he had arrived at the Dachau concentration camp in southern Bavaria on April 30^th, 1945. He arrived at Dachau just 8 hours after it had been liberated from the Nazi’s, the same day that Adolf Hitler committed suicide.  On the table between us, he had a folio of photographs that he had personally taken himself that day. He asked me to look at the tattered, yellowed photographs that depicted the grisly scene that greeted this young 23 year old American soldier.  It was hard for me to believe that I was looking at the actual photographs that he took that day 68 years ago as these were not some random photographs from a museum. I realized I was sitting next to a legend and I told him so. He shrugged that off.  These photographs showed piles of emaciated bodies of Jews that had been killed and thrown into heaps to be burned in the ovens. I asked Mr. Warshaw "had he been able to ever get these images out of his head and mind", to which he quickly answered me “no, they never go away”.  He then directed my attention to one photo in particular, a young girl (probably not more than 6 or 7 years of age) at the edge of one of the heaps of bodies, and he said “I remember her like it was yesterday”.

I sat there speechless, knowing that in just a few minutes I would be speaking to this large group of people about our Constitution and the Rule of Law. I had went there to be their speaker, and I was humbled beyond measure to have the privilege to sit next to this legend that saw the horrors of humanity with his own eyes. It suddenly struck me as I pondered the connection, the connection between my speaking about the Rule of Law and following the document that was meant to give us order and liberty.  I pondered that God had directed my steps today.  You see, I had been invited by a pastor friend to attend another important event today, and I chose to honor my commitment to speak to this group. God had ordered my steps to meet this man in order to make the connection between what this man had seen with his own eyes, and my talking about men being governed by a Rule of Law that transcends them.

 

I looked over these pictures that depicted the horrors and atrocities that men can perpetrate upon other men when left unchecked, and bereft of a Rule of Law that transcends them.  I pondered the fact that Germans sat idly by as their nation was used for unspeakable horrors and that the German church for the most part sat silent and did not push back as tyranny arose among them. They just wanted to be left alone. I pondered the fact that many of my brothers and sisters in Christ today do not want to push back against a building soft tyranny. I pondered the facts that I know from my study of history, that tyranny will NOT leave you alone, it is insatiable and it will advance upon you if left unchecked. God used this day to reinvigorate me to make the connection and reject the voices that call for surrender, to reject the misguide voices that tell us to quit making so much "noise" and simply "get along". I refuse to do that.

I am grateful and blessed to have met Mr. Bernard Warshaw today. Perhaps the look on my face shows it all after having looked at his photograph album that you see in my hand. I've seen images from the Holocaust before, but this was the first time I have been face to face with an eyewitness to those horrors. The images had stirred me and taken my breath away. This picture was taken right after I had closed his photo album...and I was coming up for air.

 

 

 

 

 

No Opt Out

“I personally will fight forever, whatever it takes, however long it takes, to prevent my children and your children, and our posterity, from taking those steps into darkness. We will persevere. We will get an Article V convention, and we will restrain the federal government.” -Mark Meckler

I get asked all the time why I expend so much effort and energy in this area...friends, I believe that as a Christian, I have no choice to "opt out".  Doesn't matter if some think it’s futile...the Christian does not have a "get out of engaging" card.

I guess in a sense I am captive to my study of American History.  On November 11th, 1620, a small group of "Separatists" from England penned these words into the Mayflower compact: "Having undertaken for the Glory of God and Advancement of the Christian Faith".

Those words in my opinion set off a "chain of human events" that birthed a nation founded in liberty for the express purpose of the Gospel Dispensation.

Listen to these words by John Quincy Adams on the 4th of July, 1837: "Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon the earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity, and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfillment of the prophecies, announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Savior and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets six hundred years before?"

Christian brothers and sisters...realize what God has given to you for a purpose...your liberty! I don't fight so hard and give up so much effort simply because I want to be political...I do it because God has ordained these principles of Self Government here in our nation for a purpose...to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Get up and get engaged in some way to return our nation to its foundations for the glory of Almighty God!

Rights vs. Theft

I have been musing on comments made this week by the President of the United States (POTUS). His comments should have elicited a response from any Christian that claims to operate from a Biblical Worldview. 

Permit me to explain. A few days ago while giving a speech; the POTUS stated that Healthcare is a Right. Any thinking person, but more importantly every Christian should have taken pause when they heard that. This statement begs the question; exactly what is "healthcare"? Healthcare isn't some nebulous thing that you cannot put your finger on, Healthcare in its basic form is a service provided by someone, or it’s a product (drugs, medicine, equipment, etc...). Because Healthcare is a service or a product, even more basic than that is the fact that it really is someone's property. Our family Doctor provides a service by offering up her intellectual property and her real property that she owns or leases. That property whether real or intellectual is her property, it's not my property, and it belongs to her.

 

Do you smell what I'm stepping in here? Where does it follow that you or I, or anyone else for that matter has a "right" to someone else's property?  I can purchase that property, or I can buy insurance to help me pay for that property, I can even ask someone to lend me some of their property, if they so desire to do so, but how does it follow that you or I, or anyone else has a "right" to take their property. Or how do I have the right to request that my government take it from someone else by brute force and hand it over to me?

The Bible tells us that we are not permitted to steal property from someone else (see 10 Commandments).  The Christian who is thinking from a Christian Worldview needs to reject the godless liberal / socialistic idea that you have some "right" to someone else's property just because a President or some well meaning soul says so.

Christians who pay no attention to everyday events and statements like this from elected officials, in this case the President of The United States, are missing their command to Go therefore and make disciples of Christians (Matt 28:19-20). I’m sure you’re wondering where I’m coming from with that. Let me explain, if we don't know the Biblical principle/positions on issues that pertain to everyday life, how on earth do we make Disciples of Christ and teach them to obey His commands? In this case, the Biblical principle is crystal clear, we have a command against theft, to NOT STEAL ANOTHERS PERONS PROPERTY, and by extension, we ought not cast a vote for anyone that would represent us and permit our government to do so.

The Founders of our great nation placed protection of natural God given rights into the Declaration of Independence as the apex function of our government. We don't get to make up new "rights" at our own whim that violate God given laws.

The 227 Year Old Message From Col. George Mason

Permit me to share a very Important Constitutional history lesson with you. The delegates to the Philadelphia Convention (today referred to as the Constitutional Convention) had been going over every section of every article in the final months of the Convention in 1787. 227 years ago, on a Saturday, just two days before the Convention in Philadelphia completed its work, we find a gem in the notes of James Madison, who took extensive notes just about every day of the convention. This item that I refer to as a “gem” is little known and hardly talked about today. On September 15, 1787, George Mason of Virginia (referred to in Madison’s notes as Col Mason), was alarmed that in the text of Article V (the provision for making Amendments to the Constitution), Congress would have sole power to propose amendments; Mason insisted, as he did earlier in June, that the states have authority to call for conventions. Mason explained that an oppressive Congress would never agree to propose amendments necessary to restrain a rogue, tyrannical legislature. “Col: MASON thought the plan of amending the Constitution exceptionable & dangerous. As the proposing of amendments is in both the modes to depend, in the first immediately, in the second, ultimately, on Congress, no amendments of the proper kind would ever be obtained by the people, if the Government should become oppressive, as he verily believed would be the case.” (See Madison’s notes 15 Sep 1787).

To make sense of that, you must understand that earlier in the summer when the issue of even having an Amendment process was first brought up as a provision in the Constitution, many of the delegates thought it unnecessary. Madison’s notes record the following on June 11^th: “Col. MASON urged the necessity of such a provision [Amendments]. The plan now to be formed will certainly be defective, as the Confederation has been found on trial to be. Amendments therefore will be necessary, and it will be better to provide for them, in an easy, regular and Constitutional way than to trust to chance and violence. It would be improper to require the consent of the Natl. Legislature, because they may abuse their power, and refuse their consent on that very account…”.

By the time the convention reached its final days in mid September, the Amendment provision had been added as Article V, and the provision had two methods; the national legislature (Congress) could propose Amendments and Congress could call for a Convention of States for the purpose of proposing amendments. However, both methods were left in the hands (power) of the national legislature, that’s what Mason meant when he referred in the first quote above as “both the modes to depend, in the first immediately, in the second, ultimately, on Congress”. Mason had objected to this back in June and now as the convention drew to a close, he rose to his feet to forcefully object with his reasons stated above (“It would be improper to require the consent of the Natl. Legislature, because they may abuse their power, and refuse their consent on that very account”). Madison’s notes of 15 Sept tell us that Mason’s motion was accepted and the language was changed in order to require [mandate] Congress to call a convention upon application of 2/3 of the states.

It is noteworthy to point out that this process does not call for a Constitutional Convention; the language specifies calling a convention for the purpose of “proposing amendments”…to the existing Constitution…it would still require 3/4ths of the states (38) to ratify any amendment proposed in this convention.

We owe George Mason and the other framers a huge debt for this...they had the foresight to understand first of all, that we needed an orderly process in which to amend our Constitution (“regular and Constitutional way than to trust to chance and violence” – Mason 11 June). Secondly we owe them a huge debt for recognizing and understanding the depravity of man and the extremely intoxicating effects of years of power in the hands of the same people (hence a need for term limits) and that these power intoxicated occupants of the United States Congress would “abuse their power, and refuse their consent” (Mason 11 June) to any amendments that would “injure” themselves and return powers never intended for the national legislature or any of the other branches for that matter, they would never take steps to return that power on their own to the rightful owner, the states/people (“no amendments of the proper kind would ever be obtained by the people, if the Government should become oppressive” – Mason 15 Sep).

The least we can do as citizens of this great nation today, citizens that do not seem to want to be bothered with taking the time to understand the underpinnings of their liberty, the least we can do is take the time to understand what the framers of this amazing document did for us. When the framers agreed on September 15^th, 1787 to change the text in Article V, they in effect were telegraphing a message to us in 2014, a message to us showing us the way back inside the fence of the Constitution, a way back to what Thomas Jefferson called the “chains of the Constitution”.

What Can You Do?

Post Campaign Thoughts - Part II

Continued from Part I:

From the outset, Curtis would tell me that our prayer needed to be that God would breathe life into what we were doing, that we would stay behind Him and let Him either give life to what we were doing and find favor with it, or we would know that it was not meant to be. In earlier blogs I described to you instances that reveal the true godly character of Curtis, one titled “Observations Worth Considering” and another entitled “Conjecture Or The Rule of Law”. I encourage you to take the time to read those, not so you can find out more about Curtis, but rather so you can see what kind of traits you should look for in a candidate.

When it became clear to the other candidates that the Bostic campaign was beginning to surge, things began to happen that one should I guess expect in a political campaign but nevertheless became a real eye opener for me. We began to take fire, lots of fire. Polling told us we were climbing through the ranks, but the heat from the other top tier candidates was an even greater indicator. I have always considered facts and truth to be fair game to use against another candidate. But probably the most difficult thing for me was to watch flat out lies and mischaracterizations being hurled at my friend. What was even harder to take was the source of most of it, definitely not where I expected it to be coming from. Politics and the quest for power can bring out the worst in individuals and I got to see it firsthand. Conversely, from our side we did everything we could to just run on our record and let the chips fall where they may. It is difficult to do that when the record is continually distorted and you don’t have the means to use media to combat it the way that the other larger political machines could do.

At the outset of our campaign, we were given little to no chance of making much of an impact. I learned a tremendous amount about running a campaign for elected office. Candidates that I thought were men of integrity at the outset, severely let me down with their action when they came under pressure or perceived that they saw the election slipping away from them.

As for me, I have given the last 15 years of so of my life pouring my time and passion into teaching and mentoring high school kids about the United States Constitution and limited government from a biblical worldview. In the last few years I have developed courses and seminars to be taught in churches or other local activist groups so that adults that have never been taught these “1^st Principles” of the founders can be equipped to elect good, constitutional, limited government candidates and so they can have the knowledge and understanding to hold them accountable once they are in office.

I knew what Curtis stood for and I knew that we shared the same heartbeat for bringing our nation back to the Rule of Law. I stood shoulder to shoulder with a man of enormous integrity in the face of withering personal attack. The undertone in a lot of this attack was nothing more than anti-religious bigotry, although those that perpetrated it would probably never admit it. It’s almost as if today, we see so little of what people like Curtis Bostic represent, we see so very little of it, that when it shows up, people feel like it’s just too good to be true and have to tear it down.

I’m disappointed that we lost an opportunity to elect someone with what I consider to be the most important qualities necessary for federal elected office; strong biblical worldview, mastery of the United States Constitution, and the rock solid integrity to execute the office that would be entrusted to him. Before we wrapped things up at the campaign office  this past Tuesday night, Curtis asked me if I would do it all over again. Without hesitation, I told him that I would. Our Constitution, our nation, and our hard fought liberties are worth our time, efforts, resources, and toil.

There are a few people you meet in life that you know you could charge the gates of hell with using a water pistol; Curtis Bostic is one of them. It was an honor to team with Curtis in this campaign. In my opinion, for whatever its worth, he might have been one of the best candidates for federal office I have seen in my lifetime. If I have one regret it would be that I was unable to convince more people of that fact.

Post Campaign Thoughts - Part I

It was a little over three months ago that I determined that it was not the right time for me to run for Congress and that I would, at the request of my friend Curtis Bostic, team with him to help him become the next United States Congressman from the 1^st Congressional District of South Carolina, the seat previously held by our mutual friend, now Senator Tim Scott.

You can read all about the events leading up to that day by reading my previous blogs in recent weeks. What I want to do here is paint somewhat of a picture of what has happened since then.  When Curtis and I determined to team up for this run, we had been friends for about six or seven years. Over the last three months, through the good pleasure of our great God, a deeper friendship has been forged in the trenches of an extremely fast paced political campaign that was sometimes exhausting, but more oftentimes a blessed experience. From the first meeting we had together, Curtis made it very clear that he wanted a true teammate, the joining of our skills, our expertise, our love for Christ, our desire to return our nation to the Rule of Law under the United States Constitution, and our like-mindedness of vision for what the founders intended for a member of the “People’s House”. It was absolutely amazing to watch God work out his ways in the building of a true grassroots effort of the people, people with the same vision.

People from literally all over the district came to join this effort, people we had never met before that saw what I saw, the opportunity to put up a superb “peoples” candidate. From Charleston to Beaufort, people were energized for the opportunity to help elect Curtis Bostic. Over 50 local pastors from all over the district were bold enough to openly individually endorse Curtis Bostic. Think about that, think about what it means about a candidates integrity and reputation when that many pastors are willing to place their reputations on the line to make a statement about a candidate for political office.

Early on, we knew that we needed to develop a true grassroots effort. In a field of 16, our strategy quickly became clear; we needed to get in front of people, lots of people. With that in mind we devised a strategy to get into people’s homes, living rooms, and community centers. We attended as many of the forums as we could, but frankly…we quickly realized that those were nice, but most of the time the same people showed up…and it was very obvious most already had their minds made up. On advice from our mutual friend, a certain United States Senator, we made a tactical decision to forego a few of the smaller events and focus on getting into homes and in front of everyday people. In essence, bypass the political machinery, and take our message straight to the voters and everyday folks. That is, “grassroots” grassroots if you will. Scores of awesome volunteers opened their homes and invited hundreds of friends, neighbors, and family members to come out and meet the candidate. We published these events on our facebook page and on our webiste. Some groups were small, some were large, but we did this almost every night of the week for three months, and we did it as a team. Curtis would explain his positions and answer questions and with my passion for Biblical Worldview and the United States Constitution, I would talk to the people about the unique qualification of this candidate. People got to meet the candidate in person and get their own questions answered without having to depend on a moderator asking their question. We were criticized heavily for this, some of the other candidates that realized what was happening, began to grumble about us and then started to float the idea that “Bostic is avoiding the forums and avoiding answering questions”. The funny thing is that the exact opposite was true; because of the dozens and dozens of drop-ins and meet and greets, no candidate was more accessible to the masses and answered more direct questions from voters than Curtis Bostic. Anyone and everyone that wanted to find out about Curtis positions were able to find an event to attend to meet the candidate and ask him their own questions.

In a campaign with an unprecedented 16 candidates, it was certain from the outset that there would be no clear winner with over 50% vote in the primary, so everyone knew there would be a runoff.  The polling suggested that Gov Sanford would be a lock for the 1^st position, the same polling however showed him vulnerable in a runoff. The Bostic campaign was written off very early and given little chance to make the 2^nd position, in fact most political pundits cast us as a 2^nd and in some cases a 3rd tier candidate. Therefore, we considered if we could find a way to get a 2^nd place finish, it would be a huge win for us and we felt confident that we had a good shot of beating Gov Sanford in the runoff.

To be continued in Part II....