Dear Dr. Keyes:
The Constitution is not a suicide pact, nor should we allow our enemies to use the letter of the law to destroy the spirit of the law.
>The Constitution is not a suicide pact, nor should we allow our enemies to use the letter of the law to destroy the spirit of the law.
The spirit is already dead; read the Bill of rights and ask yourself honestly how each one is respected... the only one that has really a chance of being considered ‘successful’ in that it has been upheld is the third.
Right. Or to destroy us physically. The primary reason for the existence of government, all government, according to the founders of this free republic, is to protect the God-given, unalienable rights of the people. Of course, among those rights are the rights to life, liberty, and private property. All of which are targets of radical Islamists.
On the one hand, it seems to me that Mr. Cain's comments are rather silly on their face. The Constitution strictly forbids religious tests to hold any office. One can reasonably wonder if he has ever read Article VI, much less thought its implications through. And as far as loyalty goes, ALL are already required to swear or affirm that they will support the Constitution of the United States. In other words, to be loyal to it.
Unfortunately, we are already currently saddled overwhelmingly by a political class that gives little or no regard to that oath. They treat it as nothing more than a formality, instead of the sacred obligation it should be. This is at the core of the problems this free republic is faced with.
"[W]here is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths...?" -- George Washington, Farewell Address
And so, whether we're talking about the oaths of callous, unprincipled politicians, or Muslims, or anyone else, it seems to me that it's way too easy for them to lie. And so, we have to work a whole lot harder to hold them accountable to their oaths in their words, in their deeds, and in their policies.
But, in any case, it seems to me that Dr. Keyes has already addressed your point rather effectively in this paragraph:
"Both Judson Phillips and Mr. Cain are right to defy the irrational notion that we should require our police or national security forces to ignore the palpable fact that threats against the United States today are largely being fomented in the Muslim world. How can the defenders of either our domestic peace or our national security maintain the vigilance needed to keep America safe if we stupidly command them to shut their eyes to what is now the salient characteristic of those most determined to attack us?
I'll try to post more on this important subject later when I get the time.