Thanks...for my American Government Class.
Bump -- read later
BTTT!
Yes, but then they went and added that pesky Bill of Rights in which the First Amendment seems to contradict the First Commandment.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof vs. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Somewhere on the internet is a putative statistical breakdown of authors cited in the works of the Framers. As I recall, St. Paul comes in fairly high in the rankings. Anybody have the link, though? I lost it, though I think I originally found it here at FR.
Rom 13:1-2
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
Just wondering - were these scriptures in the bible in 1776 or were they added later?
IF the men framing the constitution were in fact making a complete break from all things Europe, they would have ditched that pesky calendar which measures the passage of time from the birth of Christ.1776 or one thousand seven hundred seventy six years having past since the birth of Jesus.
All our founding Documents are dated with a system that acknowledges the birth of Jesus as a singular event.You can't register your dog without using that system.Not your car,your birth certificate,nor pay your taxes without acknowledging the birth of Jesus.
If God were not important to the Founders, what would hold them back from starting a new calendar for a new country with a new flag in a new world?
Faith Was regarded by the Founders ,religion,or "Denomination" was not.Congress was not to favor a particular denomination over others and requiring government officials to belong to particular denomination was to be forbidden.
However thanks to a newly found "Living Constitution" we are free from the thoughts of all those old dusty dead white men.
just a reminder-gird your loins- we will soon be hearing the term "Living Constitution" again as Dems try and get rid of the electoral college once more.....
bump
Excellent post! Thanks!
Bump for later.
Ahh, Tailgunner Joe, Anderson left out the most important part,
the People:
the records left by my forefathers (in Massachusetts 1620-1775) and by others' forefathers in New England Town Hall Meetings and other colonies as well-----always prefaced by prayers to the Almighty God--
Therein will be found the essence in writing about the mindset of their principles.
If one checks those records, one can discern the highest values already present here brought to these shores from the descendants of the people of the Magana Carta and English
Common Law.
A lot of my ancestors in Ipswich and Plymouth couldn't read or write too well as attested to their private letters and legal documents.
Thus one must rely upon their spoken words inscribed by the
recorders at the Town hall meetings and other
gatherings of the people and authorities. (Freedom to Assemble, Religion etc.)
Exempla Gratia:
The basis of the second amendment:
my family has had weapons since 1620,
an unbroken line handed down of WEAPONS from muskets
to Blunderbusses to Civil War .50 calibers
to carbines and other weapons, from father to
son and daughter, from cousins to nephews etc. down to the present day.
The U.S. Constitution merely transferred, and REAFFIRMED, CONFIRMED and REASSURED those rights which had been practised under Massachusetts and other colonies' laws.
Yet, e.g., even before 1607 and
1620, we mention French settlers, my other ancestors, who had been practising these rights to bear arms, to assemble, etc., since 1590's under French New World Territories laws and before in the northern parts of the New hampshire, Maine and New York (VT later), to be absorbed later into the U.S. populace as citizens thru marriage and pensioners in Washington's Army.
Not only that, but Native Americans had rights guaranteed by the English Crown Treaties of 1763 and others Colonies' Treaties with NA's which were reaffirmed and GUARANTEED by the US Treaties of 1784 and 1794 Chatauqua, which allowed them TO BEAR ARMS FOREVER, assemble freely, etc, on their native lands for the exercise of their
LIBERTY and Happiness. (Iroquois Confederacy etc.,) ...
The NA's and the Colonists were doing what they had been doing sincethe French, Dutch and English had established their colonies here:
The French, Dutch, English settlers and farmers and NA's had arms for mutual defense against each other and these rights were previously inscribed in Town Hall meeting records, private letters, and Treaties, respectively.
(New England Indian Wars, King Philp's War, Queen Ann's War, French and Indian War, etc.)
The a priori requirements for any proof of the background of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence
rest in the daily, weekly and monthly records and letters of the Colonists and their co-existing sometimes enemies, the Native Americans (via oral tradition)
against whom the colonists had to be well -armed even up to the time of the War of 1812, due to the New York State Militia, for example, telling the farmers of the Adirondacks
to fend for themselves against Indian raiders and that the NY State Militia could not send help when they sent messages to the NY State Militia asking for help.
This assumes that, of course, the farmers, (my ancestors) were well armed to fight close battles with an equally
well-armed foe. Later on, some of these NA's married non-NA's and brought their NA rights by tradition and treaty into the American fold.
Just ask any descendant of a Mayflower family or of any 17th
Century colonists and you will hear the
same true stories.
Rely upon the testimony of the people and you will find
the reaffirmation of their RIGHTS in the U.S.
Constitution, reaffirming their ancestors' traditions
from generation to generation for over 400 years, even unto now, 2004.
The proof is in the people; the proof is in the Constitution;
The people live 10 generations, an unbroken line of Patriots
in the Constitution still reaffirming their ancestors'
values and rights of life unchanged in essence and practice then as now:
My forefathers' blood spilled at
the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Battle of Saratoga is their testament, their legacy, for
The U.S. Constitution is written in their blood, their sacrifice for us today.
God bless America!
Case closed.
I am always struck by how people like Dershowitz can make the claims that they make. Their ignorance of what our founders read and discussed is mind-boggling. The most glaring example is that they seem to acknowledge Locke's influence but cannot possibly have read "The Second Treatise" and take the positions that they take with any level of intellectual honesty. Every page in it is saturated with references to scripture, the Divine Creator and the Divine Creation.