Constitutional Principle 2

Constitutional Principle 2

A Free People Cannot Survive Under

A Republican Constitution Unless They

Remain Virtuous and Morally Strong

Modern Americans have long since forgotten the heated and sometimes violent debates which took place in the thirteen colonies between 1775 and 1776 over the issue of morality. For many thousands of Americans the big question of independence hung precariously on the single, slender thread of whether or not the people were sufficiently “virtuous and moral” to govern themselves. Self-government was generally referred to as “republicanism,” and it was universally acknowledged that a corrupt and selfish people could never make the principles of republicanism operate successfully.

Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.

Benjamin Franklin

George Washington later praised the American Constitution as the “palladium of human rights,” but pointed out that it could survive only “so long as there shall remain any virtue in the body of the people.”

What Is “Public Virtue”?

Morality is identified with the Ten Commandments and obedience to the Creator’s mandate for “right conduct,” but the early Americans identified “public virtue” as a very special quality of human maturity in character and service closely akin to the Golden Rule.

In a Republic, however, each man must somehow be persuaded to submerge his personal wants into the greater good of the whole. This willingness of the individual to sacrifice his private interest for the good of the community—such patriotism or love of country—the eighteenth century termed public virtue….The eighteenth century mind was thoroughly convinced that a popularly based government “cannot be supported without virtue.”

Gordon S. Wood, Historian

Self-Doubts

The people had an instinctive thirst for independence, but there remained a haunting fear that they might not be “good enough” to make it work. These self-doubts were actually the eye of the hurricane during those final pre-revolutionary years when Americans were trying to decide whether they had the moral capacity for self-government. Their doubts gradually diminished as their patriotic indignation was aroused by the harsh and sometimes brutal policies of the British crown. They were also moved by the powerful expressions of faith and confidence pouring forth from men of “admired virtue” such as John Adams, George Washington, Richard Henry Lee, and Josiah Quincy.

Spirits continued to rise so that by the spring of 1776, thousands of confident voices were heard throughout the colonies affirming that there was sufficient “public virtue” in the people to make republican principles work successfully.

The Tide of Reform

Many Americans became extremely self-conscious about their lack of “public virtue” because of non-involvement in the affairs of government. They began to acknowledge their obsession with self-interest, the neglect of public affairs, and their disdain for the needs of the community as a whole. Gradually, a spirit of “sacrifice and reform” became manifest in all thirteen colonies.

In the eyes of the Whigs, the two or three years before the Declaration of independence always appears to be the great period of the Revolution, the time of greatest denial and cohesion, when men ceased to extort and abuse one another, when families and communities seemed peculiarly united, when the courts were wonderfully free  of that constant bickering over land and credit that had dominated their colonial life.

Historian (Ibid,. p. 102)

How the Moral Reform Accelerated the Revolution

Many Americans became so impressed with the improvement in the quality of life as a result of the reform movement that they were afraid they might lose it if they did not hurriedly separate from the corrupting influence of British manners. They attributed this corruption to the monarchial aristocracy of England. Americans were exhibiting a potential capacity for virtue and morality which would guarantee the success of a free, self-governing society. Therefore, it became popular to express the sentiment that the sooner they became independent the better.

The Lessons of History

It is only in the historical context that the modern American can appreciate the profound degree of anxiety which the Founders expressed concerning the quality of virtue and morality in their descendants. They knew that without these qualities, the Constitution they had written and the republican system of government which it provided could not be maintained.

Virtue has to be earned and it has to be learned. Neither is virtue a permanent quality in human nature. It has to be cultivated continually and exercised from hour to hour and from day to day. The Founders looked to the home, the school, and the churches to fuel the fires of virtue from generation to generation.

…I think with you, that nothing is of more importance for the public weal, than to form and train up youth in wisdom and virtue. Wise and good men are, in my opinion, the strengthen of the state; more so than riches or arms…

Benjamin Franklin

A Warning from the Founders

Samuel Adams

I thank God that I have lived to see my country independent and free. She may long enjoy her independence and freedom if she will. It depends on her virtue.

John Adams

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

Summary

We can see that our country was founded on Biblical beliefs. There is no separation of state once again to be noted. But for our country to continue as a republic, we must be virtuous and moral. We do not see this today in a lot of people. We must begin to re-educate ourselves first in the home, church and the in the schools. We will survive as a nation? With God’s help and people willing to go by His Word and established rights.

Constitutional Principle 1

Constitutional Principle 1

The Only Reliable Basis for Sound

Government and just Human Relations

Is Natural Law

Most modern Americans have never studied Natural Law. They are therefore mystified by the constant reference to Natural Law by the Founding Fathers.  Blackstone confirmed the wisdom of the Founders by stating that it is the only reliable basis for a stable society and a system of justice. Then what is Natural Law? A good place to seek out the answer is in the writings of one of the American Founders’ favorite authors, Marcus Tullius Cicero

Cicero’s Fundamental Principles

Cicero was one of the top lawyers in the time of Rome. He even was a Roman Consular. To Cicero, the building of a society on principles of Natural Law was nothing more or nor less than recognizing and identifying the rules of “right conduct” with the laws of the Supreme Creator or the universe.

Cicero’s compelling honesty led him to conclude that once the reality of the Creator is clearly identified in the mind, the only intelligent approach to government, justice, and human relations is in terms of the laws which the Supreme Creator has already established. The Creator’s order of things is called Natural Law.

A fundamental presupposition of Natural Law is that man’s reasoning power is a special dispensation of the Creator and is closely akin to the rational or reasoning power of the Creator himself. In other words, man shares with his Creator this quality of utilizing a rational approach to solving problems, and the reasoning of the mind will generally lead to common-sense conclusions based on what Jefferson called “the laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” (The Declaration of Independence).

Natural Law Is Eternal and Universal

The Law of Nature or Nature’s God is eternal in its basic goodness; it is universal in its application. It is a code of “right reason” from the Creator himself. It cannot by altered. It cannot be repealed. It cannot be abandoned by legislators or the people themselves, even though they may pretend to do so. In Natural Law we are dealing with factors of absolute reality. It is basic in its principles, comprehensible to the human mind, and totally correct and morally right in its general operation.

The First Great Commandment

Cicero had comprehended the magnificence of the first great commandment to love, respect, and obey the all-wise Creator. He put this precept in proper perspective by saying that God’s law is “right reason.” When perfectly understood it is called “wisdom.” When applied by government in regulating human relations it is called “justice.” When people unite together in a covenant or compact under this law, they become a true “commonwealth,” and since they intend to administer their affairs under God’s law, they belong to his commonwealth.

The Second Great Commandment

It is interesting the Cicero, without being either a Christian or a Jew, was able to discover the power and fundamental significance of obedience, not only to the first great commandment, but to the second one as well. His great mind instinctively led him to comprehend the beauty and felicity of what Jesus had identified as the second great commandment: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” So to Cicero, the glue which holds a body of human beings together in the commonwealth of a just society is love—love of God; love of God’s great law of Justice; and love of one’s fellow-men which provides the desire to promote true justice among mankind.

All Law Should Be Measured Against God’s Law

Cicero then set forth the means by which people may judge between good and evil laws. All laws must be measured by God’s law. Cicero also emphasizes that the essence of an evil law cannot be mended through ratifications by the legislature or by popular acclaim. Justice can never be expected from laws arbitrarily passed in violation of standards set up under the laws of Nature or the laws of the Creator.

Conclusion

The American Founders’ embraced the obvious necessity of building a highly moral and virtuous society. The Founders wanted to lift mankind from the common depravity and chicanery of past civilizations, and to lay the foundation for a new kind of civilization built on freedom for the individual and prosperity for the whole commonwealth. This is why they built their system of Natural Law.

Examples of Natural Law

The concept of UNALIENABLE RIGHTS AND DUTIES, HABEAS CORPUS, LIMITED GOVERNMENT, SEPARATION OF POWERS, CHECKS AND BALANCES, SELF-PRESERVATION, CONTRACT, JUSTICE BY REPARATION, RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS, NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.

Constitution 4

U.S. Constitution 4

The Founding Fathers’ Monumental Task Part 4

Structuring a Government with all The Power to the People

America’s Three –Headed Eagle

The American Founders were the first to carefully structure what might be described as a three-headed eagle. The central head was the law-making or legislative function with two eyes-the House and the Senate-and these must both see eye-to-eye on any piece of legislation before it can become law. (When was the last time they saw eye-to-eye on anything?)

A second head is the administrative or Executive Department with all authority centered in a single, strong President, operating within a clearly defined framework of limited power. Our current President thinks he can do whatever he wants against the peoples will and acting against the constitution itself.

The third head is the judiciary, which was assigned the task of acting as guardian of the Constitution and the interpretation of its principles as originally designed by the Founders. They sure have blown that assignment.

The genius of this three-headed eagle was not only the separation of powers but the fact that all three heads operated through a single neck. By this means the Founders carefully integrated there three departments so that each one was coordinated with the others and could not function independently of them. It was an ingeniously structured pattern of political power which might be described as “coordination without consolidation.” The President is acting without the three element of our government.

The Two Wings of the Eagle

The Founder’s view of their new form of government can be further demonstrated by using the symbol of the eagle and referring to its two wings:

Wing #1 of the eagle might be referred to as the problem-solving wing or the wing of compassion. Those who function through this dimension of the system are sensitive to the unfulfilled needs of the people. They dream of elaborate plans to solve these problems.

Wing #1 has the responsibility of conserving the nation’s resources and the people’s freedom. Its function is to analyze the programs of wing #1 with two questions. First, can we afford it? Secondly, what will it do to the rights and individual freedom of the people? They sure are ignoring these responsibilities.

Now, if both of these wings fulfill their assigned functions, the American eagle will fly straighter and higher than any civilization in the history of the world. But if either of these wings goes to sleep on the job, the American eagle will drift toward anarchy or tyranny. Both wings are failing to do their functions, so where does that take us?

The Founders Warn Against the Drift Toward the Collectivist Left

Since the genius of the American system is maintaining the eagle in the balanced center of the spectrum, the Founders warned against a number of temptations which might lure subsequent generations to abandon their freedoms and their rights by subjecting themselves to a strong federal administration operating on the collectivist Left.

They warned against the “welfare state” where the government endeavors to take care of everyone from the cradle to the grave. (Sound familiar?) Jefferson wrote: If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy.

They warned against confiscatory taxation and deficit spending. Jefferson said it was immoral for one generation to pass on the results of its extravagance in the form of debts to the next generation. The Founders also warned that the only way for the nation to prosper was to have equal protection of “rights,” and not allow the government to get involved in trying to provide equal distribution of “things.” They also warned against pooling of property as advocated by the proponents of communism. American we better wake up. All this is going on now. We need to stand together as Americans not as separate ethnic groups. We are all Americans.

The Need of an “Enlightened Electorate”

To prevent the American eagle from tipping toward anarchy on the right, or tyranny on the left, and to see that the American system remained in a firm, fixed position in the balanced center of the political spectrum, the Founders campaigned for a strong program of widespread education. Channels were needed through which the Founders and other leader could develop and maintain an intelligent, informed electorate. What the Founders really wanted was a system of educational communication through which they could transfer their great body of fundamental beliefs based on self-evident truths. They knew they had made a great discovery, and they wanted their posterity to maintain it. As Madison said, it is something which “it is incumbent on their successors to improve and perpetuate.”

Constitution Part 3

U.S. Constitution 3

The Founding Fathers’ Monumental Task Part 3

Structuring a Government with all the Power to the People

The Founders Note the Similarities between Anglo-Saxon Common Law and the People’s Law of Ancient Israel

As the Founders studied the record of the ancient Israelites they were intrigued by the fact that they also operated under a system of laws remarkably similar to those of the Anglo-Saxons. The two systems were similar both in precept and operational structure.

Here are the principal characteristics of the People’s Law in ancient Israel which were almost identical with those of the Anglo-Saxons:

1.      They were set up as a commonwealth of freeman. A basic tenet was: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” (Leviticus 25:10) This inscription appears on the American Liberty Bell. (Don’t see separation of church and state here)

2.      All the people were organized into small manageable units where the representative of each family had a voice and a vote. This organizing process was launched after Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, saw him trying to govern the people under Ruler’s Law. (See Exodus 18:13-26)

3.      There was specific emphasis on strong, local self-government. Problems were solved to the greatest possible extent on the level where they originated. (They didn’t need the government to solve their problems) The record says:  “The hard cases they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.” (Exodus 18:26)

4.      The entire code of justice was based on primarily on reparation to the victim rather than fines and punishment by the commonwealth. (Reference to this procedure will be found in Exodus, Chapters 21 & 22) The one crime which no “satisfaction” could be given was first-degree murder. The penalty was death. (See Numbers 35:31)

5.      Leaders were elected and new laws were approved by the common consent of the people. (See 2 Samuel 2:4, 1 Chronicles 29:22 for the rejection of a leader, see 2 Chronicles 10:16, for the approval of new laws,  see Exodus 19:8)

6.      Accused persons were presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. Evidence had to be strong enough to remove any question of doubt as to guilt. Borderline cases were decided in favor of the accused and he was released. It was felt that if he were actually guilty, his punishment could be left to the judgment of God in the future life.

Memorializing These Two Examples of People’s Law on the U. S. Seal

It was the original intent of the Founders to have both the ancient Israelites and the Anglo-Saxons represented on the official seal of the United States. The members of the committee were Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin.

They recommended that one side of the seal show the profiles of two Anglo-Saxons representing Hengist and Horsa. These brothers were the first Anglo-Saxons to bring their people to England around A.D. 450 and introduce the institutes of People’s Law into the British Isles. On the other side of the seal this committee recommended that there be a portrayal of ancient Israel going through the wilderness led by God’s pillar of fire. (Once again it doesn’t sound like separation of church and state) In this way the Founders hoped to memorialize the two ancient peoples who had acquired many of their basic ideas for their new commonwealth of freedom.

As it turned out, all of this was a little complicated for a small seal, and therefore a more simple design was utilized.

The Balance Center

This was the polemic process by which the Founders struggled to get the American eagle firmly planted in the balanced center of the political spectrum. The fixing of the American eagle in the center of the spectrum was designed to maintain this political equilibrium between the people in the states and the federal government. The idea was to keep the power base close to the people. The emphasis was on strong local self-government. The states would be responsible for internal affairs and the federal government would confine itself to those areas which could not be fairly or effectively handled by the individual states.

Constitution Part 2

Constitution 2

The Founding Fathers’ Monumental Task Part 2

Structuring a Government with all The Power to the People

Ruler’s Law

The Founders seemed anxious that modern man recognize the subversive characteristics of oppressive Ruler’s Law which they identified primarily with a tyrannical monarchy. Here are its basic characteristics:

1.      Authority under Ruler’s Law is nearly always established by force, violence, and conquest.

2.      Therefore, all sovereign power is considered to be in the conqueror or his descendants.

3.      The people are not equal, but are divided into classes and are all looked upon as “subjects” of the king.

4.      The entire country is considered to be the property of the ruler. He speaks of it as his “realm.”

5.      The thrust of governmental power is from the top down, not from the people upward.

6.      The people have no unalienable rights. The “king giveth and the king taketh away.”

7.      Government is by the whims of men, not be the fixed rule of law which the people need in order to govern their affairs with confidence.

8.      The ruler issues edicts which are called “the law.”  He then interprets the law and enforces it, thus maintaining tyrannical control over the people.

9.      Under Ruler’s Law, problems are always solved by issuing more edicts or laws, setting up more bureaus, harassing the people with more regulators, and charging the people for these “services” by continually adding to their burden of taxes.

10.  Freedom is never looked upon as a viable solution to anything.

11.  The long history of Ruler’s Law is one of blood and terror, both anciently and in modern times. Under it the people are stratified into an aristocracy of the ruler’s retinue while the lot of the common people is one of perpetual poverty, excessive taxation, stringent regulations, and a continuous existence of misery.

I would like to take some time here and discuss some of the issues. If you think that our government isn’t doing these things, think again. We are being lead to a tyrannical dictatorship.

Point 1 – Conquest is not necessarily by force. You can conquer a nation without firing a shot.

Point 3 – The government has us divided into two parties. They also have us divided racially. When we figure out that the government is our problem and not each other; then we will stand against the government instead of each other.

Point 4 – If you ever attempted to build a house on your own property you know what I mean. Not only does the government think you need their permission, but they won’t let you build your house where you want on your own property. Example, our family owned more than 300 acres a ¼ wide by 1 mile deep, approximately. We couldn’t build on the lake that our property bordered, nor anywhere between there and the road. We had to build on the road front. Also don’t pay your property tax and they will take what doesn’t belong to them.

Point 5 – I see all the time where people allow the federal government to take and steal and tell them what they must do with their land and businesses. Instead of telling the federal government to take a hike, they just fall like lambs. So I would say that the power is coming top down instead of from the people.

Point 6 – They are taking away free speech, freedom of religion and weapons. Need I say more?

Point 7 – What do you call National Health Care being passed against the will of the people?

Point 8 – Our government passes so called laws all the time. Originally they couldn’t make laws on their own without the peoples say so.

Point 9 – More bureaus, more regulations, more laws, more taxes and even more misery.

Point 10 – Government always enslaves.

Point 11 – Do I need to even comment further?

God intended that man live free from a controlling government. When was as Americans start to realize that we are in charge and stand together; black, white, Asian, Hispanic and etc., our country will change alright. Back to its original republic of freedom, and the greatest nation ever to exist. My heritage is French, English, Scottish, African and Cherokee. I’m American.

Constitution Part 1

Constitution Part 1

The Founding Fathers’ Monumental Task Part 1

Structuring a Government with all

The Power in the People

The Founding Fathers Political Spectrum

Part of the genius of the Founding Fathers was this political spectrum or political frame that was a yardstick for the measuring of the political power in any particular system of government; better than the one that is used today.

If they had used the modern yardstick of “Communism on the left” and “Fascism on the right”, they never would have formed the balance center which they were seeking.

What is the Left? What is the Right?

It is extremely unfortunate that the political philosophy today is measured in terms of political parties instead of political power. The Founding Fathers would have considered this most objectionable, even meaningless. Today people don’t understand the meaning of Left or Right. The terms actually refer to the manner in which the various parties are stated in the parliaments of Europe.

The radical revolutionaries (usually the Communists) occupy the far left and the military dictatorships (such as the Fascist) are on the far right. Other parties are located in between. So we don’t even know what we are saying when we say “I’m on the Left” or I’m on the Right”. Americans are in the center where there is a balance of political power.

Measuring people and issues in terms of political parties has turned out to be totally misleading. This is because the platforms or positions of political parties are often superficial and structured on shifting sand. The platforms of a political party or one generation can hardly be recognized by the next. Furthermore, Communism and Fascism turned out to be different names for approximately the same thing, the police state. They are not opposite extremes but, for all practical purposes, are virtually identical.

The Founding Fathers used a more accurate yardstick. The Founders measured political systems in terms of the amount of coercive power or systematic control which a particular system of government exercises over its people. In other words, the yardstick is not political parties, but political power.

Using this yardstick the Founders considered the two extremes to be ANARCHY on the one hand and TYRANNY on the other.

Anarchy = no government, no law, no systematic control and no government power. This is nothing less than total chaos.

Tyranny = too much government control, too much political oppression and too much government. In other words, slaves to the ruling class.

Our Founders wanted to find a balance center. They wanted to establish a system of “People’s Law”.

People’s Law = where the government is kept under the control of the people and political power is maintained at the balanced center with enough government to maintain security, justice, and good order, but not enough government to abuse the people.

New Series on the Constitution!

I'm going to begin a new series on the 28 principles on which our forefathers based our constitution. You will be surprised at what some of them are. You will be amazed! There are a lot of things that the progressive government, education, tv and media are telling you about or just our right lieing about. You will be able to follow this series on my Facebook page, just look up Pastor Robert Eaton. Here you will find the messages on my discussions board and on my video list. I look forward to this series very much. I have fallen in love with our forefathers. Their wisdom that jumps out at me. Their relationship with God, that's right, their sacrefices that were made.
I recommend that you buy the book; "The 5000 Year Leap!". There are two books with this title, the one you want is the one written by W. Cleon Skousen. It has the picture with the world and sun on it. Not the one with an astronaut. This is where I'll be getting most if not all of my information for this series. Another great book which on our history is: A Patriot's History of  the United States. This book has over 100 pages in footnotes. It's over 800 pages, but you will learn things in this book that you are not being told. I look forward to this series an am very excited to bring it to you.