All this time to try and figure out the page issues and it still isn’t as I wished. In order to get all 5 pages, you must click on the Guest Post 1-16-13 title, then the page numbers show and can all be accessed. I’ll work on it, but for now, just click the title. Thanks, Allen
A few days ago I came across this over at one of my favorite sites, ZeroHedge. It raised several issue that we who favor a Founders’ view of the Constitution are familiar with. It also does a fine job of showing some of the flaws in the Evolving view theory, as well as giving some of the sources behind this flawed thinking. One thing is certain, where this country goes will be determined by who wins this argument. I can’t help but be a little pessimistic about the outcome, but still hope for the best.
After reading it, I decided to contact the author, Brandon Smith. He has graciously granted me permission to reprint the piece here, for you folks, in it’s entirety. I saved my comments on it until the end, touching on a few obvious points. Due to it’s length I’ve broken it down into 5 pages.
Here it is.
____________________________________________________
“Where Does The Hatred Of Constitutionalism Come From?”
The Constitution of the United States is an undeniably powerful document. So powerful in fact, that it took establishment elitists with aspirations of globalized governance over a century to diminish the American people’s connection to it. It’s been a long time coming, but in the new millennium, there is now indeed a subsection of the masses that not only have no relationship to our founding roots, they actually despise those of us who do!
There are a number of reasons for this dangerous development in our culture: A public school system that rarely if ever teaches children about the revolution, the founders, constitutional liberty, or the virtues of individualism in general. A mainstream media apparatus that has regurgitated endless anti-constitutional shlock for decades, attacking any person or group that presents a freedom oriented view. And a governmental structure that has become so corrupt, so openly criminal, that they ignore all aspects of constitutional law without regard, rarely feeling the need to explain themselves. As a people, we are surrounded daily by the low droning wash-talk of denigration and disdain for our principled foundations. The wretched ghosts of collectivism and tyranny mumble in our ears from birth to death. It’s truly a miracle that every man and woman in this nation has not succumbed to the mind numbing hypnotism…
However, our propaganda soaked environment is not the ONLY cause of our self destructive society; many people are themselves to blame. Severe character flaws and psychological imbalances have left some open to suggestion, manipulation, and fraud. Their hatred, though fueled in part by the socialization of the establishment, is still theirs to own.
The brutal ignorance on display in mainstream circles against the liberty-minded needs to be addressed. In my view, the American public is being conditioned to see us as a convenient “enemy” which they can use to project all their internal grief and woe. Our country is on the verge of collapse, economically, politically, and philosophically. Corporatized elements of our government and the financial high priests of the international banking sector are behind this calamity, and of course, they don’t plan to take responsibility. Who better to demonize as the catalyst for all the pain that is coming than the only people who have the awareness and the means to stand against the catastrophe?
Wandering Views 
Copied, pasted, and being printed so it can be read. I will get back to you.
LikeLike
Interesting article. Since the election, I think many of us have been wrestling about what actions we should take and what should be our focus. Here are some thoughts:
1. Americans are increasingly lazy, immoral and stupid. This has led to the election of leaders who encourage immorality, reward laziness and taylor appeals to the stupid.
2. A majority of people on the West Coast and the Northeast have rejected Christian values and care little for the Constitution.
3. The South is still conservative and the Bible Belt, but we are going down fast.
4. There are no political solutions without a massive spiritual revival.
So how should I respond:
1. Keep teaching the Bible to our youth at church. Warn students of the dangers present in our culture.
2. Pray for a spiritual revival.
3. Don’t dwell on current political events. They will only make me mad.
4. Pray for our religious leaders.
5. Encourage young people to consider opportunities in other countries where perversion and government mismanagement are not so rampant.
6. Vote, but don’t worry about election results.
7. Support Christian ministries in other countries where people are turning toward God.
LikeLike
“Encourage young people to consider opportunities in other countries where perversion and government mismanagement are not so rampant.”
And where would that be?
LikeLike
I was wondering the same thing.
LikeLike
Those of us who disagree with many of the broad assertions in this piece do still support the Constitution. Asserting that you all are the only real defenders of the land is divisive and does cause people like me to lose hope that conservatives can engage in any dialogue that does not include complete capitulation.
LikeLike
Come on Coyote, you know both sides do that sort of thing. The other side calling us racists because we don’t support this abominable president is a prime example.
LikeLike
There is an ongoing attempt to undermine the Constitution;
To redefine government support of religion,
To redefine marriage,
To redefine the possession of weapons.
To define when life begins.
They attempted free speech with the “Fairness Doctrine”.
It’s a continuous battle. They’re relentless. We will lose in the end.
Likely not during my lifetime, buy many of you will see it.
LikeLike
Makeitman
You read the article?
LikeLike
Many voters are simply ignorant of what’s happening.
Many don’t care what’s happening.
Rush got a call from a lady who said that she previously listened only to local MSM station’s presentation of the news. She got the idea that Ben Ghazi was a man who killed some people in Libya.
LikeLike
The Founders envisioned a republic where a document would be the rule by which government would function based upon the contents of that document, not by what other men said or what they felt would be in the document. No branch of the government would have control or power over the other. This is known as checks and balances. Congress would writes laws based upon the Constitution, the executive branch would enforce the laws and the judicial would apply the laws. If the laws enacted by Congress were not in accordance with the Constitution, the executive branch could veto the bill or the Supreme Court could overturn the Law. To keep the Constitution in line and up to date, the framers allowed for the Constitution to be amended. The Constitution was never intended to micromanage the lives of the citizenry. It was designed to be limited in power. Sadly today few people have even bothered to read the constitution or the Federalist Papers that were the publications written by the founders to define the scope by which the Constitution would be applied.
LikeLike
KBells and Makeitman, Here are my top nine in no particular order:
1. Chile
2. Poland
3. Singapore
4. South Korea
5. Hong Kong
6. Estonia
7. Latvia
8. Ireland
9. Lithuania
As the moral, spiritual and financial condition of the US continues to worsen, other nations will begin to look good by comparison.
LikeLike
My second tier in no particular order would include:
Fiji
Uruguay
Costa Rica
Taiwan
Mongolia
Rumania
Montenegro
Malta and
Georgia.
I am also interested in what is happening in Russia, China, Belarus, India, Ukraine Mexico and Peru, but I would not encourage young people to relocate to any of those countries at this time.
LikeLike
I found the article full of rhetoric and little on specifics. The evolving vs founders debate seems contrived. Constitutions are always interpreted, to call one view evolving and an other the founders is an attempt to grant the later viewpoint more legitimacy.
I find the gun debate puzzling since its “a well regulated” militia. An assault weapons ban was put in effect in 1994 under Clinton yet there wasn’t nearly the same level of panic.
LikeLike
When God is kicked out of a nation, the nation loses it foundation. We see thiis in our own nation.
LikeLike
Roy, When people in an area asked Jesus to leave, He went somewhere else. He told the disciples to do likewise. Today is a great time for global Christianity. It is also a great time for economic freedom around the world. Sadly, the US has become a backslider.
LikeLike
HRW,
And was Clinton attempting to ban certain hand guns, including the magazine capacity of these hand guns? No, he wasn’t. What they seek now is much larger, much more restrictive, and involves way more than just “assualt rifles”. I put that in scare quotes because half these clowns don’t even know what is and isn’t.
LikeLike
Stalin stated in order for his type of government to take control 3 things must happen.
1. The Nation History must be discredit. The left has done this in the schools. The Constitution and the Founding Father have been discrediting.
2. The religious intuitions must be discredit. The left have done this to the Christian Church, .
3. The family must be discredit , the left have done this to the family.
LikeLike
The founders did envision checks and balances. They also advised agaist parties and against the sort of lobbing we see today. But that is not what the article is actually about.
Ricky,
Six of your countries are bound bu EU rules. The top choice recognizes same sex marriage. Two are dictatorships. One is owned by China. And really in any of them you would find many more constraints on freedom of expression. I find the advice to leave the country appalingly unpatriotic.
LikeLike
Ricky — I find your first list puzzling. Every single one of these countries has a universal health care system whereas the US has a more free enterprise friendly mandated private insurance scheme. Only Poland has a higher weekly church attendance rate than the US although Ireland comes close (and trust me Poles aren’t that religious, church attendance is cultural). Only Chile, Hong Kong and Singapore are listed ahead of the US by the right wing Heritage Institute Index of Economic Freedom (btw Canada, Australia and New Zealand are rated higher than the US). However, Chile is currently governed by a centre-left coalition.
Your second list is even more bizarre. The current president of Uruguay is a former armed guerrilla who was shot by police several times and spent over two years in solitary confinement. He’s now a leftist politician who donates 90% of his salary to the poor, lives on a small vegetable farm and drives a VW Beetle. Costa Rica has some appeal but for you I wonder if you could live in a country where the two largest political parties are left and centre left. Some of the others like Fiji are run by the military or are heavily influenced by the military.
For anyone with a libertarian bent none of these countries make much sense except Hong Kong and Singapore but those two city-states don’t possess the Christian heritage you probably want. If your criteria is limited government and rule of law, I would suggest you focus on New Zealand and Australia
LikeLike
rick,
I have been filling in for my Pastor since the first week of Dec. The last few weeks God has had me preach from the Book of Habakkuk, Habakkuk issues is the same issues we are going through as a Nation.
LikeLike
CB,
“Asserting that you all are the only real defenders of the land is divisive and does cause people like me to lose hope that conservatives can engage in any dialogue that does not include complete capitulation.”
Sure. We should be kinder in our dialogue, like the left is right? And MiM is correct, but since you missed it, I’ll help you out.
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/rep-hank-johnson-nra-they-still-cannot-get-over-obama-black
“Representative Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) said that the National Rifle Association (NRA) opposed President Barack Obama’s gun control plans because the group “still cannot get over” the fact that the president is “black.”
Following a Capitol Hill press conference on Wednesday, Rep. Johnson suggested that NRA opposition to Obama’s gun control policies was personal. CNSNews.com then asked Johnson, “You said just a minute ago that part of the NRA’s true colors was a personal dislike of the president. Why do you think that is?”
Rep. Johnson said, “First of all, he is a black. And as a black person being the president of the United States, that is something they still cannot get over.””
LikeLike
I got 2 things out of the President’s speech.
1. He has no problem using kids, including his own, as political props. But he doesn’t like it when the favor is returned.
2. The dog and pony show with the kids was a good summation of his policy. Written by children, emotion instead of fact based, and about as smart as a 10 year old could be expected to come up with.
But what do I know, I’m just a racist.
🙄
LikeLike
real aj look at how Hamas uses kids as political props.. It is stir up peoples emotions and that is what Mr. Obama is doing
LikeLike
AJ
Of all the people here, I’m probably the least knowledgeable on the mechanics of guns. I’m an urban Canadian where guns are a rarity, but I think I can make a few comments on the logic of regulation. Despite heavy regulation, rural Canada is as well armed as America. Similarly the well regulated social democratic states of Scandinavia also have high levels of gun ownership. And like Canada, these high levels exist despite the near dearth of guns in urban areas. Switzerland which is frequently cited by those against regulations is also heavily regulated despite the near universal possession of guns.
I also find the argument that the Second Amendment protects people from gov’t tyranny rather strange. Countries such as Serbia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen are high on the list. I also find it strange those politicians who make that argument are the same politicians who consistently vote for high military spending thus giving the “possible tyrannical” gov’t the best possible equipment to impose tyranny. If they were truly concerned about gov’t tyranny then they would cut military spending.
Finally the only concrete proposal I’ve heard emitting from the White House seems to be on greater information exchange between different agencies and jurisdiction in regards to background checks. There seems to be lots of rumour mongering and panic but nothing concrete.
LikeLike
the people who can not get pass Mr. Obama skin color is the left. That is why they throw up as much they do.
LikeLike
Aj
And those guys are also ridiculous ans divisive. Your original question was how ought a christian to behave under the present circumstances as described. One way would be to be a peacemaker. Unlike those you cite as morally impaired, to be the group that does not ascribe bad faith or bad motive prior to discussion. Another might be to seek the truth and see through media distortions on both sides.
LikeLike
Someone once said
“Gun control is not about guns, it’s about control.”
LikeLike
Chas
Can there not be a middle ground? I am not pro banning guns, but I do believe background checks are reasonable. I do think that research on guns and violence is not unreasonable.
LikeLike
I agree that our country has taken a turn that most of us feel is seriously wrong (and is perhaps un-fixable from our viewpoint).
But Christians have lived amid much worse conditions and in nations much more wicked that what we see around us.
Yes, we can grieve for our homeland that has held such promise for freedom and liberty through the past centuries. But let’s not forget who our Master is. It’s not the U.S. Constitution or this or that President who is in power.
And Chas (16:25), actually we do win in the end. 🙂 In the Big Picture way that counts. I know you know that.
America may go down in flames, but so be it. God is sovereign over that as well. Perhaps it is time. I trust that God uses (man’s) evil for (His) good. Perhaps it will serve to strengthen what has been a weak faith & much-too-comfortable church in the west all these years.
Perhaps America will be restored. Perhaps not.
Keep the faith.
LikeLike
And the violence we see in our nation is of an ungodly source. It goes much deeper than the outward presence of guns. (I, too, am OK with gun registration, maybe some more restrictions. I’m not a fan of guns. But it’s just not the answer. It mainly will take rights away from those who are responsible and law-abiding.)
The problem we have goes to people’s hearts, to what has been a steady cultural decline, a willingness to call evil good and good evil.
LikeLike
CB,
Fair enough.
And I don’t know any responsible gun owners against reasonable checks and laws. The problem is we already have them. We don’t need more. Enforce what we have. You wanna make it tougher for people with mental issues to get them, fine, I have no problem with it personally. But how is that accomplished without infringing on the rights of people without mental issues? But they had to go for the whole liberal dream. It won’t work. There’s already action in the House and Senate against this overreach. Not to mention the legal hurdles this will face. They should have went small and reasonable. They didn’t. To say that anyone who won’t play along is racist, or a Nazi, or wants kid’s hurt is childish. Just like the sad faced kid props today. It’s disgusting.
LikeLike
Aj,
Why don’t we then do the small and reasonable and move past the blaming, shaming and name calling? The dems put forward proposals that do go too far but simply saying no and we’re not facists but if you touch our guns you hate America really doesn’t make for an environment where reasonable can prevail.
LikeLike
Tonight I took my wife to see The Sound of Music. At the end of the movie the Von Trapp family fled their native country (Austria). As we left the theater my wife commented that just as Austria was horribly transformed in the late 1930s, the US of 1965 (when the movie was made) has been horribly transformed. It is not now a good place for young people to raise children.
LikeLike
CB,
Brandon has another piece out yesterday. It’s possibly a message to folks like yourself. If you have time, check it out. He’s seen these issues from both sides. He was a Democrat until a few years ago. It’s not as long as this one.
http://www.alt-market.com/articles/1273-a-message-to-the-left-from-a-right-wing-extremistc
“In 2004, I found myself at such a crossroads. At that time I was a dedicated Democrat, and I thought I had it all figured out. The Republican Party was to me a perfect sort of monster. They had everything! Corporate puppet masters. Warmongering zealots. Fake Christians. Orwellian social policies. The Bush years were a special kind of horror. It was cinematic. Shakespearean. If I was to tell a story of absolute villainy, I would merely describe the mass insanity and bloodlust days of doom and dread wrought by the Neo-Con ilk in the early years of the new millennium.
But, of course, I was partly naïve…”
“It really is amazing. I have seen the so-called “anti-war” party become the most accommodating cheerleader of laser guided death and domination in the Middle East, with predator drones operating in the sovereign skies of multiple countries raining missiles upon far more civilians than “enemy combatants”, all at the behest of Barack Obama. I have seen the “party of civil liberties” expand on every Constitution crushing policy of the Bush Administration, while levying some of the most draconian legislation ever witnessed in the history of this country. I have seen Obama endorse enemy combatant status for American citizens, and the end of due process under the law through the NDAA. I have seen him endorse the end of trial by jury. I have seen him endorse secret assassination lists, and the federally drafted murder of U.S. civilians. I have seen him endorse executive orders which open the path to the declaration of a “national emergency” at any time for any reason allowing for the dissolution of most constitutional rights and the unleashing of martial law.
If I was still a Democrat today I would be sickly ashamed. Yet, many average Democrats actually defend this behavior from their party. The same behavior they once railed against under Bush.”
“This philosophy of independent action is consistently demonized, regardless of how practical it really is when faced with the facts. The usual responses to the concept of full defiance are accusations of extremism and malicious intent. Believe me, when I embarked on the path towards the truth in 2004, I never thought I would one day be called a potential “homegrown terrorist”, but that is essentially where we are in America in 2013. To step outside the mainstream and question the validity of the game is akin to terrorism in the eyes of the state and the sad cowardly people who feed the machine.
During the rise of any despotic governmental structure, there is always a section of the population that is given special treatment, and made to feel as though they are “on the winning team”. For now, it would appear that the “Left” side of the political spectrum has been chosen by the establishment as the favored sons and daughters of the restructured centralized U.S. However, before those of you on the Left get too comfortable in your new position as the hand of globalization, I would like to appeal to you for a moment of unbiased consideration. I know from personal experience that there are Democrats out there who are actually far more like we constitutionalists and “right wing extremists” than they may realize. I ask that you take the following points into account, regardless of what the system decides to label us…”
LikeLike
I love my country too much to ever want to emigrate. But if I did, my choice would be Canada hands down. For the most part, our neighbors to the north seem to be sensible and stable—qualities we are rapidly losing, for whatever reason.
The Sound of Music was always one of my favorite musicals—I have it on disk. Interestingly, the von Trapp family settled in Stowe, Vermont, where they built Trapp Lodge that is still going. I think only one of the original children survive (at 97 yrs old), but there are many grandchildren still there.
http://www.trappfamily.com/story
LikeLike
Love of country is one thing, but love of government?
LikeLike
Governments come and go, the land stays forever—or until nature’s God dislodges it. Throughout the ages, different peoples have been favored to live on this land. I hope we will be here a long time yet, still struggling to govern as best we can.
We have a lot to be thankful for in the US, and we are not nearly as corrupt as most of the governments on the above lists. I’m not inclined to throw us over for Chile or Romania or Latvia.
LikeLike