CNN Anchor Breaks Down as Parents of Vet Treated at Phoenix VA Facility Read Their Son’s Heartbreaking Suicide Note on the Air

May. 30, 2014 10:29pm Jason Howerton

Iraq War Veteran Daniel Somers survived over 400 combat missions only to return home to a “system of dehumanization, neglect, and indifference.” He ended up killing himself last year after receiving treatment from the now infamous Phoenix VA hospital.

On Friday, Somers’ parents appeared on CNN to discuss their son’s tragic demise and the reality many veterans face in the United States after returning from combat.

CNN

They also read some of Somers’ heartbreaking suicide note on the air. In addition to writing that his body had become “nothing but a cage, a source of pain and constant problems,” Somers also outlined the painful truth that results in the deaths of veterans every single day:

“Is it any wonder then that the latest figures show 22 veterans killing themselves each day? That is more veterans than children killed at Sandy Hook every single day. Where are the huge policy initiatives? Why isn’t the president standing with those families at the State of the Union? Perhaps because we were not killed by a single lunatic but rather by our system of dehumanization, neglect, and indifference.”
[...]
“I derive no pleasure from any activity, everything simply comes down to passing time until I can sleep again. Now, to sleep forever seems to be the most merciful thing.”

Both of Somers’ parents and CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin were fighting back tears after the reading of the gut-wrenching note.
Somers’ parents explained that their son had to wait three months to get treatment at the Phoenix VA because the facility confused him for a member of the National Guard. He was then directed to the Department of Defense hospital before the Phoenix VA finally agreed to give him care. Even then, Somers still experienced problems, the parents said.
National Review has the video via CNN:

An open letter to the Governor of Nevada - Waddie Mitchell 05-29-2014

An open letter to the Governor of Nevada

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Waddie Mitchell

Submitted

Waddie Mitchell

 

2014-05-29T06:00:00ZAn open letter to the Governor of NevadaBy WADDIE MITCHELLElko Daily Free Press

10 hours ago • By WADDIE MITCHELL

(2) Comments

 

We have not met, so all I know of you are your actions as my State’s governor. Allowing Big Brother to invade our State is reprehensible. Remember, you sir, were elected to govern and protect Nevada, instead you have opted to set a dangerous precedent for every state by not stopping, which is in essence condoning, the Feds from coming and running rampant over our State and personal rights.
We didn’t hire you to let the great State of Nevada become a federally owned and run kingdom. Side-stepping important issues is not what our representatives are supposed to do. Where is your sense of duty to Nevada and Her people?
This has nothing to do with “party lines.” Allowing the BLM to mount military-type missions on private citizens, to collect on a bill of fees for use of land within your state is giving fundamental rights away. If he broke any law, it was a law the BLM wrote, not a State or Federal law. I must have missed the memo where we agreed to let self-written BLM rules become laws, punishable by extreme measures such as facing an armed and testosterone-driven bunch of hired guns, willing to murder “real” law-abiding Americans.

 

The rancher in question did not steel cows or money, a car or a fence post. He did not threaten, punch, kick, poke or throw a rock at anybody. He did not juggle the books or kidnap a cat. He is not a criminal in any sense of the word, though the government makes him out a bigoted law breaker for their purpose of their taking his ranch. They didn’t pay the rancher or his many ancestors for stewarding the land for a century and a half, which is something the BLM has more than proven they can’t or won’t do. The BLM has shown themselves incapable of doing anything right, let alone their job which is to manage land, feral horses and multiple use. Since when were they given the authority to become bill collectors with the use of deadly force?
This is no conspiracy theory, look at the numbers. Since the BLM earnestly started grabbing power back in the late ’70s, the ranges’ health is down, productivity has been reduced by two-thirds and the feral horse problem is worse than it has ever been and completely out of control.
The rancher has refused to pay grazing fees totaling less than $200,000, but with interest and penalties it is now over $1.3 million, which makes the actual fees less than 16 percent of the bill. In the private sector it would be against the law. It makes a loan from loan shark look like a bargain. Only they and other government agencies like the IRS can demand such outrageously high, self-set extortion monies legally.
All this because he refused to pay fees to an agency that is hellbent on putting him, his family and the family’s legacy out of business as they have all other ranchers in Clark County. He is the last one standing. If you don’t think this is the lowdownest, underhandedness way of stealing, gaining and controlling private water rights, then you need a wake-up call.
By you not stopping this you are also condoning, by their own numbers, their spending $6 million of our tax money on the round-up of the “criminal’s” cattle while they claim to not have enough money to do the job we pay them to do. (And their pay keeps going up.)
I have been confronted by an armed thug and told, “Get off Federal land,” to which I replied, “I have a right to be on public land.” I was assured, “There is nothing public about this land except the name, this is Federal land and I have orders to do anything it takes to keep you off.”
At that time, they were gathering to steal and auction off a rancher’s means of support because, well, they could. He is in the right but they stole his way to sustain himself and his wife, and they now garnish his measly Social Security check and keep him so poor he is not even getting by, let alone mount a case in court against the Big Brother machine. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, the rancher happened to be Shoshone, in his 80s and on reservation land.
Are you so nearsighted you can’t see that you’ve opened the gate for even more bolden acts of government aggression, intrusion and takings? Did you consider how you’ll impact the other Western States (and eventually all States) due to your reckless decision? Are we who don’t live in the large populated areas not worth your time? We are still Nevadans.
In any court, if you can show an established precedent, the judge will likely rule in its favor. Mr. Governor, you have just thrown away Wayne Hages’ 20-year battle, and ultimate victory, over a bully government takings case which was similar to the rancher’s case.
You know, the heart and soul of our state isn’t in Her cities, it’s out on her outback, the part of the state that most of us Nevadans like to lay claim to. The real Nevada I love, tough, different, self-reliant and proud, is now being taken down by a bunch of soft, self-serving bureaucrats, and on your watch. Do you think this is what Nevadans, at least the ones that aren’t politicians or bureaucrats, want? Do you think Americans want this? Will you be proud of a legacy as the Nevadan who sold out Nevada and in turn, private rights?
By your actions, you have just as much told us that you are OK with Nevadans facing the Government goons on our own. Or, we can do as you’ve done, turn our backs and pretend this is only as big a deal as the Big Brother government wants us to believe. They would rather not have other people know about the Federal agents who came prepared, armed and willing to harm Americans for protesting a big government’s taking of private property.
Thanks for the support of private rights, Governor. You know, it’s always the politicians that are willing to start a fight someplace they don’t belong ( Korea, Viet Nam, Grenada, Iraq, Afghanistan ). Now they’ve turned their power grabbing on their own citizens. Of course, they don’t get their sissy hands dirty. I don’t believe the people in the U.S. want or would put up with this kind of hard Government takeover if they knew anything about it. You should know about it as our Governor and you should be ashamed.
We were warned by this country’s forefathers to be weary of a government and the politicians who want more power. Mutual friends told me you’d be a good governor, that you were a Nevadan. I voted for you and was hoping we’d have some leadership. Most of us know that your days are eaten up with mundane paperwork, public relations, endless meetings, phone calls, parties and your own fundraising. Leadership, though, comes from those committed to do the will of the people, their constituents and the people in their charge, not big government. Good Governors are those who do the things best for the State and the people who entrusted them with their voice, those who watch over and protect our Constitutional and our personal rights. Leadership is also shown in those who will choose right over personal gain.
I, for one, am disgusted with the situation around the VA and its treatment of American vets. These government “takings” are just as dishonest and just as wrong! By not standing up to big government you have let down the State and we who live here.
— A lifetime and proud Nevadan, Waddie Mitchell

Copyright 2014 Elko Daily Free Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Letter: Taxpayers support BLM incompetence

Editor: How many packs of feral dogs would your neighborhood allow? One, two, more? I doubt any because they’d be disruptive and would do what… Read more

Commentary: A look back at original cattle seizure case

In the June 6, 2002, issue of the EIko Daily Free Press, I read an article entitled “BLM Manager Explains Cattle Impoundment.” In this article… Read more

'A Call to All'

This poem is not about a cowman who refused to give up rights Read more

Commentary: Media needs to tell unbiased story about cattle seizures

I believe we deserve to have readily available, unbiased facts from our news sources to help us make important choices. I’d like to address a … Read more

Tags

Nevada, Bureau Of Land Management, Governor, Internal Revenue Service, Big Brother Government

ON THE RANGE

Survival on the Range: Fundamental changes for Nevada ranchers

http://elkodaily.com/news/survival-on-the-range-fundamental-changes-for-nevada-ranchers/article_5b6aecf0-dc81-11e3-af6d-001a4bcf887a.html#.U4DP65ddFSB.blogger

 

 

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Mike Laughlin, Lee Raine

Mary Branscomb photo

Mike Laughlin and Lee Raine pack salt to cattle on public land in Nevada.

2014-05-15T18:00:00ZSurvival on the Range: Fundamental changes for Nevada ranchersBy RANDY WITTEElko Daily Free Press

May 15, 2014 6:00 pm • By RANDY WITTE

(11) Comments

Marsha and I have several leased pastures we take our cattle to during the summer months. This gives the grass on our place a chance to grow, of course, before we return home with everything in the fall. It’s a bit of a hassle each year, securing rented pasture, hauling cattle in, then checking on them week after week.
But that’s nothing compared to what the ranchers in Nevada are facing this year as the Bureau of Land Management institutes a strong-arm tactic to remove their livestock from the land. For background: Nevada consists of 84.5 percent federal land, managed by the BLM, which controls a total of 45 million acres in the state, divided into 745 grazing allotments serving ranchers. For many decades, the Nevada ranchers and the BLM worked pretty much in harmony as both sides sought to protect the rangeland from over-grazing.
Working together was the best way to accomplish this goal, because much of the land is intertwined. BLM land is often interspersed with deeded land; sometimes a map of an area will resemble a checkerboard of BLM and deeded land. Water flowing through an area may travel through both BLM and deeded land, and often a ranch will hold water rights which, by law, allow grazing access in proximity to the water, even while the water is on BLM land.
Ranchers have typically improved access to water by developing springs and ponds at their own expense, and in certain locales salt blocks have been set out to encourage more uniform grazing. Such efforts benefit wildlife as well as sheep and cattle.
The biggest ranches used to keep their livestock on the move, often for hundreds of miles beginning in spring. Chuck wagons and crews of buckaroos would tend to the livestock, branding and doctoring as the months went by, and the herds of livestock would arrive at the home place in the fall for sorting, shipping and wintering. This practice has been reduced to a much smaller scale in recent years as the BLM began to fence off various parts of the range.
Has the fencing helped with the propagation of grass?
“I know there was a lot more grass before the fencing,” said Jim Andrae, retired manager of the IL Ranch of Tuscarora, in a conversation with Mike Laughlin, a 78-year-old cowboy who is still horseback most every day tending to cattle. Mike is an old friend, and I’ll tell you there is no one better at sizing up a situation — “reading” horses, cattle and people — than Mike Laughlin. A person good at this kind of reading knows what a horse, a cow, or a person will do before they do it.
Andrae went on to explain that cattle tend to bunch up near a fence corner, and will overgraze that area, whereas the old way saw them move on, and on.
In recent years, Laughlin said, many ranchers in Nevada have been told their grazing permits have been greatly reduced, but this spring the numbers were cut even more drastically, sometimes down to no grazing at all on certain BLM parcels.
Three reasons were given: Ongoing recovery from drought, protection of the desert tortoise, and protection of the sage hen.
“It would be like you suddenly found out you couldn’t go anywhere with your Longhorns,” Mike explained. “Cattle numbers in this state are down by half what they were a couple years ago. People are forced to sell because they have no place to go with them.”
There was a glimmer of hope last year when Neil Kornze, a local boy who grew up in Elko, was named principal deputy director of the BLM. The ranchers figured there was finally someone in charge who would understand the challenges they face to stay in business. Then they found out Kornze had served as senior policy advisor to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
“So,” Laughlin added, “Harry is callin’ the shots.”
Enter the Bundys
I was first alerted to the Bundy situation in a phone conversation with Mike on another topic. He mentioned the Cliven Bundy standoff, and I hadn’t heard anything at that point about the Nevada rancher who was at odds with the BLM because he hadn’t paid pasture fees and hadn’t removed his cattle from adjacent BLM acres.
“It’s a powder keg,” Laughlin said, “and someone’s liable to get shot before it’s over.”
The Bundy situation, as it turned out, is a small part of a much larger problem between ranchers and BLM people, and Laughlin gave me plenty of inside information, then directed me to other sources as well.
First, the Bundys: The family ranches near Bunkerville, outside Las Vegas in the southeast part of the state. Cliven has run his cattle on BLM land and hasn’t paid his grazing fees for 20 years, claiming the BLM doesn’t do a good job of managing and arbitrarily changed the rules on him long ago. He said he would gladly pay management fees to a county agency, but not the BLM. The BLM says he owes around $1 million in fees and fines, and this spring they set out to remove his cattle with a force of armed men and a helicopter.
The story finally gained some national attention when it was learned that some of Bundy’s cattle had been shot and buried in a sandy draw while others were being run by helicopter into a large pen constructed of portable panels under the watch of armed BLM law enforcement personnel.
The armed guards were met by armed friends of Cliven Bundy — along with hundreds of curious unarmed onlookers who wanted to see if there was really going to be a shooting range war.
Neil Kornze blinked, fortunately, the cattle were released, and the BLM forces retreated. Cliven Bundy won the battle, but he may lose the war. The FBI has entered the scene, investigating suspected white supremacy groups that came to Cliven’s aid. Cliven initially elicited sympathy from many folks who showed dismay at a large federal government threatening overwhelming force against one of it’s own citizens. But then Cliven went on to express some of his other views, which were deemed politically incorrect, and much of his support waned.
Still, Sherman Frederick of the Las Vegas Review-Journal had this to say about the conflict (April 16):
“The Bundy situation remains unresolved. The BLM and Kornze have fallen back into a bunker mentality (pardon the bad pun). It’s clear that Kornze lacks experience and judgment, and contrary to Sen. Reid’s assessment, Kornze is far from ‘perfect’ for this position.
“Kornze led a spectacularly botched roundup of ‘undocumented’ cattle in Bunkerville …. The bungled roundup, which almost came to gun play, rests entirely on Kornze. If (he) understands the role of the BLM when it comes to private ranchers, he didn’t show it last weekend.”
Government Overreach
There is a distinct feeling that the folks who showed up during the standoff weren’t there so much in support of the Bundys, but were there because they disapproved of what the government was doing with an overwhelming show of force. And while writing this story, there was Associated Press news of “dozens of people who rode ATVs and motorcycles on an off-limits trail in southern Utah Saturday (May 10) in a protest against what the group calls the federal government’s overreaching control of public lands.”
The account said 40 to 50 people, many of them waving American flags and some carrying weapons, participated in the ride, and that hundreds attended a rally at a nearby park before the protest. About 30 deputies and a handful of BLM law enforcement personnel stood by and watched.
Meanwhile, back in Nevada, Pete Tomera, a rancher at Battle Mountain, posted an open letter on the Internet explaining his frustration with BLM personnel in his grazing district. The following are excerpts; the complete letter — and more — can be found by Googling Pete Tomera.
“My family and I have a ranch in the Battle Mountain area and graze our cattle in the Argenta Allotment,” Pete wrote. “The Argenta Allotment has approximately 350,000 acres, consisting of deeded, leased deeded and BLM lands. It ranges in elevation from 4,500 feet on the flat to 10,000 feet on Mount Lewis. Our BLM grazing license is 56 percent federal and 44 percent deeded. We either own or lease most of the deeded lands in the Argenta Allotment.
“We also have over 100 vested water rights on all the surface water in the Argenta Allotment, some of it dating back to 1862. We have made several large water improvements, both irrigation and stock water on our deeded lands. The BLM has not allowed any water improvements to be made on federal land, although we have repeatedly tried to have some approved to keep the cattle scattered and off the creek bottoms.”
Pete shares the allotment with neighboring ranchers, and went on to accuse BLM District Manager Doug Furtado of trying to “use neighbors against each other” by allowing some to graze in portions of the allotment that had been promised to others, and by using evidence of range damage that was “manipulated to make the range look worse than it is.”
Water Rights
“I once told Doug Furtado that the state water rights laws gives us the right to water our cattle on the range using our vested rights, and he said the BLM is federal and doesn’t recognize state laws. I also told him that Nevada is a fence-out state and he again said they don’t recognize state laws.”
Last year, in compliance with another BLM order, Tomera put up a 16-mile fence at a cost of $80,000. He also told of he and his neighbors riding each day to keep their cattle “out of trouble” with the BLM.
“I would not be complaining if there were no feed on the mountain,” he concluded, “but there is good feed there. I believe the BLM should make a greater effort to help the ranchers get through this difficult drought and still survive.”
Tomera invited state and federal legislators to his ranch in May to look at range conditions firsthand.
However, when ranchers point to good grass growth on a range, they see good grazing. The BLM counters that such growth is still in recovery.
Mike Laughlin, meanwhile, is horseback these days in the Ruby Mountains near Elko, tending to cattle. The grass where he rides and throughout most of Nevada is shaping up to what may be exceptionally good this year.
“So much of the grass in Nevada is cheat grass,” he said, “which is OK if you graze it off early in the spring, while it’s green. Sheep and cattle do that, and then go on to other forage when the cheat grass is grazed off. But if something doesn’t eat all that cheat grass early on, it turns into a fire hazard. We can get 40 lightning strikes in a single thunderstorm, and the range will be on fire. I’ve seen it.”
The BLM knows this, too, he added, and has a lot of firefighting equipment scattered around various areas. This knowledge hasn’t altered their stance on grazing restrictions, however.
In a blog dated May 6, Thomas Mitchell wrote: “What is doubly disturbing about the BLM kicking cattle off the range is that the grass will continue to grow and in the hot summer months will become kindling for wildfires that decimate the very creatures the BLM claims to protect — sage grouse, desert tortoises, deer, elk, rabbits, foxes, etc. — roughly three critters for every acre burned.”
Well, there have always been people who believe that “the end justifies the means,” especially if the end result suits them. After all, wildlife species have survived wild fires for eons prior to being “managed.” But a home ranch without access to adequate grazing — or even its own water — isn’t worth a lot of money. If the livestock disappear, so will the ranchers, along with whatever water rights they have.
There is speculation: Nevada is booming in the subsidized solar energy “business” — which requires a lot of water. Water needs are increasing for Las Vegas, too; Lake Mead is at low ebb.
Whatever is going on is a big change, a fundamental change in Nevada.
“What we’re seeing,” Laughlin said, “is the last stand of a horseback society. I’ve seen it all in my lifetime, from the open range days to what looks like the end of a closed society that made its living horseback in the ranching business.
“But I’ll tell you one thing,” he added. “These old ranchers won’t go quietly.”
———————
Randy Witte is a former publisher of Western Horseman Magazine.

Watch: Outraged Utah Rancher Tells The BLM What’s In Store For Them If They Try Anything

"I ain’t going nowhere.”

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B. Christopher Agee— May 20, 2014

 

The reaction to the Bundy Ranch showdown proved hostilities between civilians – specifically ranchers – and the federal government is not limited to Nevada. Land disputes in Texas and protests in Utah have highlighted what many see as undue intrusion by the Bureau of Land Management into the rights of ranchers who have used the land for generations.

Outrage has reached a boiling point among some in Utah who depend on federally owned land for their livelihood and who feel the government is now making their way of life virtually impossible.

 

“I’ve been riding a horse and taking care of them … ever since someone could hold me on the horse,” rancher Preston Johnson said, explaining he had hoped to pass his lifestyle down to his children.
The San Juan County rancher’s concerns come just days after a nearby protest against the BLM’s failure to act on requests that it reopen a canyon that has been off-limits to motorized vehicles since 2007.
He cited the 1934 Taylor Grazing Act as the basis for his claim to use the land, though he notes that he and other ranchers are facing mounting opposition by the BLM. Under the guise of protecting endangered animals or some other ostensible emergency, he complained that federal agents are resorting to the use of force to enact new restrictions on ranchers across the American West.
His mother, Sandy, agrees.
“The government has pushed us and pushed us ‘til we’re tired of being pushed and we’ve done the things we need to do like pay our grazing fees and everything,” she explained.
Failure to pay such fees, officials claim, was the basis for an armed standoff at the Bundy Ranch.
Some critics contend the BLM is working toward the full removal of ranches and cattle from the millions of acres it currently owns.
As for Preston Johnson, he made it clear that he has no intention of voluntarily capitulating to the encroaching federal bureaucracy.
“I’ll stay here ‘til they have to run me off,” he concluded, “with everything they got, because I ain’t going nowhere.”

Read more at http://www.westernjournalism.com/watch-utah-rancher-gives-blm-powerful-ultimatum/#Msb1gDpZ7tcIKGss.99

Slaying The Racism Monster!

Published on May 8, 2014

This 4th of July at Gettysburg PA, Americans of all colors will come to gether to proclaim the USA is one nation under God and to destroy the manufactured racism of the left.

Colorado teen quits school over death threats after objecting to Islamic song

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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February 17, 2012

James Harper, a senior at Grand Junction High School in Grand Junction, Colorado, quit his high school choir after objecting to an Islamic song containing the lyric, “there is no truth except Allah," earlier this week.
But Fox and Friends reported Friday the senior has left the high school altogether after allegedly receiving death threats.
"I don't want to seem like a racist or a bigot or anything," Harper said. "I'm just really rather uncomfortable, any religion, singing to any other god."
But the school defends the song.
"This is not a case where the school is endorsing or promoting any particular religion or other non-educational agenda. The song was chosen because its rhythms and other qualities would provide an opportunity to exhibit the musical talent and skills of the group in competition, not because of its religious message or lyrics," said district spokesman Jeff Kirtland.
A.R. Rahman, the composer of the song, entitled "Zikr," says the tune is not intended to be a worship song, but rather a song about "self-healing and spirituality."
"It is unfortunate that the student in Colorado misinterpreted the intention of the song," Rahman said. "I have long celebrated the commonalities of humanity and try to share and receive things in this way. While I respect his decision for opting out, this incident is an example of why we need further cultural education through music,” he said.
A post at Gateway Pundit provides the lyrics of the song, translated from the original Urdu:

Those of you, who seek Allah’s attention, Come, as you are called by Allah.
There is no better deed than ZIKR, said the Holy Prophet of Allah. And those who do ZIKR of Allah from core of their hearts, become successful.
And Zikr cuts Nafs (a human being’s desire to do whatever he wants,good or bad but used mostly for the desire to do evil things) so Zikr is sword of Allah.
Zikr is peace, Zikr is victory, Zikr is remedy, and Zikr is prayer
(I can’t give exact meaning of the second line but it means something like this)
Only Allah is eternal and will be there when nothing else will bethere, as everything other than Allah will get destroyed one day.
Apart form Allah subhan ta alah’s greatness,
Take anything other than Allah out of your heart
And leave Light of Muhammad (May peace be upon him)
The Truth of La ila ha il Allah (the Kalma of testimony or
shahadath, the basic of Islam, where every Muslim declares that
there is no one worship- worthy other than Allah)
In every flower, in every spirit, there is light of Allah
In every heart, in every moment, there’s Zikr of Allah
Zikr is better than hatred; Zikr is better than not caring about life hereafter
Zikr of Allah is much better compared to saying bad things about fellow human beings
(Now he recites the beautiful names of Allah.)
Ya Qayum (Al-Qayum mean THE SELF-SUBSISTING i.e. HE WHO HOLDS THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE)
Ya Awal (Al-Awal means THE FIRST i.e. HE WHO WAS THERE WHEN NOTHING ELSE WAS THERE)
Ya Akhir (Al-Aakhir means THE LAST i.e. HE WHO WILL BE THERE WHENNOTHING ELSE WILL BE THERE)
Ya Haleem (Al-Haleem means THE FOREBEARING ONE i.e. HE WHO ISCLEMENT)
Ya Kareem (Al-Kareem means THE GENEROUS ONE)
Ya Azeem (Al-Azeem means THE GREAT ONE)
Ya Raheem (Al-Raheem means THE MERCIFUL, He who gives blessings andprosperity)
Ya Rahman (Al-Rahman means THE BENEFICENT)
Ya Subhan
Ya Adnan
Ya Manan
Ya Zol jallal wal Ikaram (means THE LORD OF MAJESTY AND BOUNTY)

Harper's concern over the religious nature of the song is not without merit.
Last December, Americans for the Separation of Church and State objected to the inclusion of "Silent Night" in a school Christmas program, arguing that it is unconstitutional for the school to sing the carol.
But it seems that in today's politically correct world, some songs are simply more tolerable than others.

The Declaration of Independence The Constitution of the United States



The Declaration of Independence

and

The Constitution of the United States

No documents have had a greater influence on the citizens of our country than the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. The Declaration of Independence marked the birth of our republic and set forth our “unalienable rights” to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Later, the Constitution outlined our style of government and defined the rights that are protected from intrusion by government.

These documents have been a beacon to all men and women who value freedom. They are just as meaningful now as when they were written. As the American statesman Henry Clay said, “The Constitution of the United States was not made merely for the generation that then existed but for posterity – unlimited, undefined, endless, perpetual posterity.”

The Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were written with the intent that they could be easily read and understood by ordinary citizens. The difficulty comes with the changes in the English language that have occurred since they were written, making both documents more difficult to decipher. Freedom Defined addresses this problem by providing instant access to the definitions of words and phrases used in these documents. The definitions are based on dictionaries used during the early years of the United States, the records of the Constitutional Convention, and the writings of the Founding Fathers.

• Preface
• To Teenagers Who Use Freedom Defined
• To Adults Who Use Freedom Defined
• The Fire of Freedom
• Suggestions for Further Reading

The Declaration of Independence

• Introduction
• The Foundations of Free Government
• Abuses of King George III
• Efforts to Obtain Justice from Great Britain
• The Birth of the American Nation

The Constitution of the United States

• Preamble: Purposes of the Constitution
• Article I: The Legislative Branch
• Article II: The Executive Branch
• Article III: The Judicial Branch
• Article IV: The States and the Federal Government
• Article V: The Amendment Process
• Article VI: The "Supreme Law" and Other Provisions
• Article VII: Ratifying the Constitution
• The Bill of Rights (Amendments 1 - 10)
• Amendments 11 - 27

Preface

Benjamin Franklin, one of the few men to sign both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, is among the greatest statesmen America has ever produced. He had only two years of schooling as a child, but as he grew to young manhood he taught himself through reading, writing, hard work, travel, and scientific experimentation. Through this program of self-education he eventually became an internationally acclaimed scholar and inventor, receiving honorary degrees from several universities on two continents. In 1760, Franklin gave a young friend this advice about studying difficult books:
"I think it would be well for you to have a good dictionary at hand, to consult immediately when you meet with a word you do not comprehend the precise meaning of. This may at first seem troublesome and interrupting; but it is a trouble that will daily diminish, as you will daily find less and less occasion for your dictionary, as you become more acquainted with the terms; and in the meantime you will read with more satisfaction, because with more understanding."

T o T e e n a g e r s W h o U s e F r e e d o m D e f i n e d

Each time we pledge allegiance to the American flag, we also pledge our loyalty and support to "the republic for which it stands." This resource will help you discover the meaning of that promise.
We speak of our republic as "one nation, under God, . . . with liberty and justice for all." But where did our liberty come from? And what can we do to guard against losing it?
To answer these two important questions, we must first understand the two great documents that have made America "the land of the free."
The United States became a nation in 1776 through the Declaration of Independence, which announced that we were no longer part of the British kingdom. The Declaration says that all people are "created equal" and are born with certain God-given rights, including "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." It also states that we have the right to organize whatever form of government we believe will best protect us and our freedoms.
To accomplish this, the American people adopted the Constitution of the United States. Building on the foundation principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution went into effect in 1789 as a "government of the people, by the people, for the people."
It was a new kind of government, one that had never before been tried. It limited, divided, and balanced authority between the states and the three branches of the federal government so that no person or group would have enough power to trample on the people's rights. And it has worked so well that, for more than two hundred years, America has been viewed as the home of liberty by many nations of the world.
Our constitutional system has been called "the great engine of freedom." But, like any valuable machine, it requires careful and frequent attention to continue operating correctly. In a people's government, it is the people themselves who must provide this attention. Each generation of Americans must earn again the rights and liberties passed on to them.
It will soon be your generation's turn to protect the freedoms secured by the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. To do so, of course, you must first read and understand these two vital documents.
Although both of them were written for ordinary citizens, certain parts are not easy to read today, because the English language has changed in some ways since the late 1700s. That is why this resource has been prepared.
By providing definitions of many difficult words and phrases, Freedom Defined can help you understand the documents that gave birth to our country. The definitions are based on dictionaries used during the early years of the United States, the records of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and the writings of the Founding Fathers and others who have studied the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
The great men and women who formed our nation created a wise and effective system of self-government that has made Americans the first free people in modern times. Their flame of freedom has now been passed to us. May we hold it high for future generations to see and follow.

T o A d u l t s W h o U s e F r e e d o m D e f i n e d

No two political documents have had a more dramatic and far-reaching influence on human liberty than the American Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. They are inseparable parts of one whole: the first proclaims the philosophical ideals on which a free nation was founded, while the second provides the practical means by which those ideals may be implemented and perpetuated.
The freedoms we now enjoy are the product--and thus depend on the preservation--of America's unique system of self-government. For this reason, each new generation of Americans inherits an obligation to uphold and safeguard that system. We owe our allegiance, not to political candidates or parties or programs, but to the US Constitution. It is the "supreme law of the land" and should therefore govern us and our leaders.
To safely utilize and maintain our free political process, we must know how to govern ourselves in accordance with correct constitutional principles. George Washington, while serving as President, called for "the education of our youth in the science of government. In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? and what duty more pressing . . . than . . . communicating it to those who are to be the future guardians of the liberties of the country?"
Parents and educators followed his advice, and for many years thereafter virtually all Americans understood the Constitution and how it was designed to work. Alexis de Tocqueville, a distinguished French jurist who visited the United States in the 1830s, observed that "the instruction of the people powerfully contributes to the support of the democratic republic. . . . If you question [an American] respecting his own country, . . . he will inform you what his rights are and by what means he exercises them. . . . In the United States, politics are the end and aim of education."
It is now our generation's turn to "preserve, protect, and defend" the principles set forth in our nation's founding documents. To do so, of course, we must first read and understand them. That is the purpose for which this resource has been prepared.
The Declaration of Independence was authored by Thomas Jefferson. The US Constitution, based on an initial plan outlined by James Madison, was the product of many minds; but its final phrasing--and its famous preamble--came from the pen of Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania.
Unlike most legal documents of that era, these were written for ordinary citizens rather than for attorneys. As writer Edwin Newman recently observed, the US Constitution is "a remarkable example of straightforward, economical English . . . astonishingly free of legalese."
Nevertheless, present-day Americans find it considerably more difficult to read and understand the Constitution and the Declaration than did our forebears in the time of Washington and Tocqueville. This is true for several reasons: both documents necessarily contain a number of technical terms; some English expressions have acquired new meanings over the last two hundred years; and a few others have passed from our language altogether. Furthermore, the United States has experienced significant educational and demographic changes in this century. Many Americans in the 1700s and 1800s had better reading habits and larger vocabularies than we do in this age of television; moreover, they were not as ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse as we are today.
Freedom Defined recaptures the meaning of the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence for modern readers. It is essentially a dictionary of words and phrases used in America's founding documents.
Descriptive subheadings have been added to facilitate reading, and in some instances spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been modernized. The paragraphing of the original printed text of the Declaration has been slightly altered, and in both documents the paragraphs have been numbered (article and section numbers appeared in the original Constitution). Square brackets have been inserted in the Constitution to identify passages that are now obsolete or have been modified by later provisions.
The most notable feature of Freedom Defined is its extensive system of hyper-linked words to the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. The main object of these hyperlinks is to provide simple, clear definitions of difficult words and phrases; no attempt is made to supply interpretive commentary, nor is any historical context reviewed beyond what is necessary to define a term or explain the status of a constitutional provision no longer in force. Simply hover over a hyper-linked word to see its definition.
To establish as nearly as possible the meaning intended by those who framed and adopted these two vital documents, the definitions are based on English and American dictionaries used during the Founding era, the records of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and commentaries by the Founders themselves as well as those of reputable modern scholars. (See "Suggestions for Further Reading" below.)
In the final years of his life, Thomas Jefferson called upon the American people to "preserve inviolate [the] Constitution, which, cherished in all its chastity and purity, will prove in the end a blessing to all the nations of the earth." Similarly, James Madison wrote that the men and women who founded our nation "accomplished a revolution which has no parallel in the annals of human society. . . . They formed the design of a great confederacy, which it is incumbent on their successors to improve and perpetuate."
We are their successors. And we can keep alive their grand experiment by becoming an enlightened citizenry and earning anew the "blessings of liberty" they sought to secure for themselves and all mankind.

T h e F i r e o f F r e e d o m

America's Founding Fathers, who authored and fought for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, had very clear ideas about freedom. Here are a few representative quotations from their speeches and writings that provide important insights into the nature and the source of our liberty, the dangers that can threaten it, and how we may remain a free people today.
Patrick Henry: "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
Benjamin Franklin: "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Benjamin Rush: "Political freedom includes in it every other blessing. All the pleasures of riches, science, virtue, and even religion itself derive their value from liberty alone. No wonder . . . those illustrious souls who have employed their pens and sacrificed their lives in defense of liberty have met with such universal applause."
John Dickinson: "Honor, justice, and humanity call upon us to hold, and to transmit to our posterity, that liberty which we received from our ancestors. It is not our duty to leave wealth to our children; but it is our duty to leave liberty to them."
George Washington: "A government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian."
Alexander Hamilton: "Real liberty is neither found in despotism or the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments."
Thomas Jefferson: "The way to have good and safe government is not to trust it all to one, but to divide it among the many. . . . What has destroyed liberty and the rights of man in every government which has ever existed under the sun? The generalizing and concentrating all cares and powers into one body."
George Mason: "The right of the people to participate in the legislature is the best security of liberty, and the foundation of all free government; for this purpose elections ought to be free and frequent." Thomas Jefferson: "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground."
James Iredell: "The only real security of liberty in any country is the jealousy and circumspection of the people themselves. Let them be watchful over their rulers."
Thomas Jefferson: "What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that [the] people preserve the spirit of resistance?"
Thomas Jefferson: "To preserve [our] independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt."
Richard Henry Lee: "The first maxim of a man who loves liberty should be never to grant to rulers an atom of power that is not most clearly and indispensably necessary for the safety and well-being of society."
James Madison: "Liberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty as well as by the abuses of power."
Samuel Adams: "Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man."
Benjamin Franklin: "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters."
Thomas Jefferson: "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 . . . the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?"
John Adams: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
Alexander Hamilton: "An inviolable respect for the Constitution and laws . . . is the vital principle, the sustaining energy, of a free government."
Thomas Jefferson: "Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. Enable them to see that it is their interest to preserve peace and order, and they will preserve them. . . . [The people] are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
Thomas Jefferson: "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, . . . it expects what never was and never will be."
James Madison: "It is universally admitted that a well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people."
George Washington: "The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty . . . [is] staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people."

S u g g e s t i o n s f o r F u r t h e r R e a d i n g

Corwin, Edward S. The Constitution and What It Means Today. 7th ed. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1941.
Cullop, Floyd G. The Constitution of the United States: An Introduction. 2d ed. rev. New York: New American Library, Mentor Books, 1984.
Dumbauld, Edward. The Bill of Rights and What It Means Today. Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 1957.
------. The Constitution of the United States. Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 1964.
------. The Declaration of Independence and What It Means Today. Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 1950.
Elliot, Jonathan, ed. The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution. 2d ed. rev. 5 vols. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1907.
Farrand, Max, ed. The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787. Rev. ed. 4 vols. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1937.
Hamilton, Alexander; Madison, James; and Jay, John. The Federalist Papers. 788. New York: New American Library, Mentor Books, 1961.
Jensen, Merrill; Kaminski, John P.; and Saladino, Gaspare J., eds. The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution. 8 vols. by 1988. Madison, Wis.: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1976-.
Norton, Thomas James. The Constitution of the United States: Its Sources and Its Applications. New York: World Publishing Co., 1922.
Peltason, J. W. Understanding the Constitution. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970.
Skousen, W. Cleon. The Making of America: The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution. Washington, D.C.: National Center for Constitutional Studies, 1986.
Story, Joseph. Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States. 1833. Reprint. Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 1987.
In addition to the above-listed sources, the following dictionaries were frequently consulted during the preparation of the footnotes in this book:
Johnson, Samuel. A Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. London, 1755. Reprint. Hildesheim, Germany: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1968.
------. A Dictionary of the English Language. 6th ed. 2 vols. London, 1785.
Simpson, J. A., and Weiner, E. S. C. The Oxford English Dictionary. 2d ed. 20 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989.
Webster, Noah. An American Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. New York, 1828. Reprint. Anaheim, Calif.: Foundation for American Christian Education, 1967.

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Parallel Concepts between the U.S. Constitution & the Bible

 

 

Parallel Concepts between the U.S. Constitution & the Bible

Our last three monthly newsletters have shown the amazing correlation between Biblical concepts and the Principles of Liberty established by the Founders for freedom, prosperity, and peace, and how they were reflected in the Declaration of Independence.
This month we will show how many of those same concepts are also reflected in our structure of government as established by the Constitution of the United States. These reflections should not surprise the honest student of American History. Scholarly studies have shown that the Bible was the most quoted source, by far, in all the Founders’ speeches and writings.
The reverence which the Founders showed toward Biblical concepts in both the Old and New Testaments was reflected by John Adams when he said:

"Suppose a nation in some distant Region should take the Bible for their only law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God.... What a Utopia, what a Paradise would this region be."

When reading the Biblical law of government as proclaimed by Moses, it must be remembered that ancient Israel was a unitary republic of one nationality and one faith. The American Founders knew they must establish a government for a pluralistic society. It was John Adams who took these same functions of government from the Old Testament record (Isaiah 33:22) and, following the advice of Polybius and Montesquieu, pushed for a separation of powers into three branches.
Rather than attempt to explain these scriptural passages in our words, we prefer to let them stand on their own. As the student of history studies these references and tries to understand the spirit in which they were given, he will, no doubt, come to see that same spirit in the ideas of the Founders as they structured the American nation. No other source gave to the Founders the ingredients they sought for the establishment of a free people better than the Bible. No writings of ancient philosophers, which the Founders also studied, established the pathway to freedom so powerfully as did the Bible.
As these scriptures are read, it is hoped that insights will distill upon the reader as they did upon the Founders. It will soon become apparent to the honest seeker of truth that, as George Washington testified many times, the Hand of Providence was in this work.

From the Preamble to the United States Constitution:

“We the People…”

Exodus 24:3 - And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.
Deuteronomy 31:12-13 - Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: And that their children, which have not known anything, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

1 Samuel 8:10-18 - And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.

“In order to form a more perfect union…”

Genesis 2:24 - Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Matthew 19:6 - What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Psalms 133:1 BEHOLD, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

“Establish justice…”

Psalms 82:3 - Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.

Proverbs 1:3 - To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;

Proverbs 21:3 - To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

Ezekiel 45:9 - Thus saith the Lord GOD; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord GOD.

Acts 10:34 - Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

“Ensure domestic tranquility…”

Leviticus 26:6 - And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.

“Promote the general welfare…”

1 Chronicles 22:13 - Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.

Joshua 1:8 - This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Proverbs 31:20 - She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

“Provide for the common defense…”

Hebrews 11:32- 34 - And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

Luke 14:31-32 - Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

“Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity…”

Genesis 45:7 - And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

Daniel 2:44 – 45 - And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

Galatians 5:1 - STAND fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Article I of the United States Constitution

“All legislative power shall be vested in a Congress of the United States…”

Exodus 19:7-8 - And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.

1 Samuel 8:10-18 - And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.

“…which shall consist of a Senate…”

Numbers 11:16-17 - And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

“…and a House of Representatives.”

Deuteronomy 1:12-16 - How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do. So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.

Article I, Section 8
“The Congress shall have the power to…”

“… lay and collect taxes…but all…shall be uniform throughout the United States;”

Leviticus 27:30-33 - And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's: it is holy unto the LORD. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD. He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.

Malachi 3:8-10 - Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

“…to coin money…and fix the standard of weights and measures;”

Leviticus 19:35-36 - Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.

More to come next month. Just a reminder:

Psalms 19:7 - The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

Sincerely,

Earl Taylor, Jr.

Parallel Concepts between the U.S. Constitution & the Bible (Continued)

As we continue to show some biblical concepts that were reflected in the Constitution of the United Sates, we quote again from John Adams:

"Suppose a nation in some distant Region should take the Bible for their only law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God.... What a Utopia, what a Paradise would this region be."

Rather than attempt to explain these scriptural passages in our words, we prefer to let them stand on their own. As the student of history studies these references and tries to understand the spirit in which they were given, he will, no doubt, come to see that same spirit in the ideas of the Founders as they structured the American nation. No other source gave to the Founders the ingredients they sought for the establishment of a free people better than the Bible. No writings of ancient philosophers, which the Founders also studied, established the pathway to freedom so powerfully as did the Bible.
As these scriptures are read, it is hoped that insights will distill upon the reader as they did upon the Founders. It will soon become apparent to the honest seeker of truth that, as George Washington testified many times, the Hand of Providence was in this work.
Article I, Section 3 “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state…”
Numbers 11:16

And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.

Article I, Section 7 “If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted)…”
Exodus 20:8 - 11

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Article I, Section 8 – “The Congress shall have the power…”
“To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court;”
Exodus 18:22 - 26

“And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.”

“To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;”
Deuteronomy 4:6 - 8

“Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?”

“To provide for calling forth the militia;…To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia,”
Proverbs 24:6

For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Exodus 1:10

Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.

Exodus 14:14

The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Deuteronomy 1:42

And the LORD said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.

Article I, Section 10: “No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation;”
1 Kings 8:53

“For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.”

Article II, Section 1: “No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President”
Deuteronomy 1:13

“Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.”

Article III, Section 1: “The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior”
Deuteronomy 16:18 - 19

“Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment. Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.”

Article IV, Section 4: “The United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union a republican form of government”
Deuteronomy 1:15

“So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes.”

Article VI, Section 1: “All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid against the United States”
2 Corinthians 8:20 - 21

“Avoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us: Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.”

Article VI, Section 3: “The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution;”
Numbers 30:2

“If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.”

After Article VII: “…the seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven,”
Isaiah 61:2

“To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;”
First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”

1 Corinthians 10:29

“Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience?”
Fifth Amendment: “…nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;”

John 7:50 - 51

“Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?”

Thirteenth Amendment: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
Galatians 5:1

“STAND fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
Eighteenth Amendment: “The manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.”

Numbers 6:3

“He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.”

In this and last month’s newsletter, we have quoted 28 provisions of the Constitution, each with one or more biblical scriptures that seem to express a parallel concept. There are probably others you may be able to find. In the study of world governments, it may be truly said that outside of the government of Ancient Israel itself, there is perhaps no government that has so many similar institutes to the Bible as does the Constitution of the Unites States of America.
Truly, it must be concluded, with John Adams and other Founders, that:
Psalms 19:7

“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.”

Sincerely,

Earl Taylor, Jr.