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Last Days of America? Our Founding Father's Warnings to Last Day's America
NCCS/IFB ^ | 6/2/20 | Earl Taylor Jr.

Posted on 06/02/2020 6:45:41 AM PDT by The Ignorant Fisherman

One of the most remarkable observations in the study of history is the caution and warnings that are always given by Founders of great civilizations. It seems that those who lay foundations for great civilizations are quite aware of the seeds of pride, selfishness, and contention in human nature which over time usually begin to manifest themselves in society--even good societies. These Founders, realizing the tendency of human nature to degenerate, have always closed their public ministries with solemn warnings of the dire consequences of departing from the lofty ideals they established.

Moses gave the children of Israel the most sublime principles of government and human behavior, which would have led them to the most prosperous society ever. But he seemed to know that after his departure it would be difficult to hold. No doubt he knew from personal experiences that the Israelites would soon depart from his inspired counsel. He said: "For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord; and how much more after my death?" (Deuteronomy 31:27) He even predicted that they would eventually fall from being the most prosperous and blessed nation on earth into a state of slavery, devoured by other nations, and losing the great blessings of freedom.

The Savior's Sermon on the Mount contained principles of human behavior which, if followed, would have created the highest level of prosperity and freedom ever seen on the face of the earth. But before His ministry was concluded, He gave direct warnings concerning the fate of those who would reject His teachings. As a result, few groups have seen more persecution in the history of the world than those who turned from His true gospel.

When the American Founders set up the first free people in modern times they knew it was risky business. They all realized that any man-made institution -- even under the inspiration of the Almighty -- would be subject to foibles and human weaknesses of those who worked under its canopy. Nevertheless, these men who master-minded the United States of America had the highest aspirations for the great nation they were founding. It was only in their quiet, more somber moments that their apprehensions concerning the future of America came out in concrete phrases and words.

STRONG WARNINGS FROM THE FOUNDERS AND EARLY AMERICAN LEADERS

Many state constitutions include words similar to what is contained in the Arizona Constitution: "A frequent recurrence to fundamental principles is essential to the security of individual rights and the perpetuity of free government." ( Arizona State Constitution , Art. II, Sec. 1) Just as we need to periodically review the principles the Founders gave us so should we periodically review the warnings they uttered about the temptation of a free people to use this freedom to give license to human weaknesses and thus pulling down a great civilization.

In Dr. Skousen's The Majesty of God's Law, he includes a whole chapter outlining some of the most powerful warnings of the American Founders. The rest of this letter is drawn from Chapter 32 of this book giving the Founders' quotes and Dr. Skousen's comments.

The Warnings of Benjamin Franklin Franklin served as one of the foremost architects in structuring the Constitution, and while most of the Founders were congratulating one another on their remarkable charter of liberty, Benjamin Franklin injected this note of prophetic insight.

"I agree to this Constitution ... and I believe, further, that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other."

All of this went along with Franklin's basic philosophy of sound government; namely, that no people can remain free if they become wicked and immoral.

When a society decays to the point where people begin to fear for their lives and their property, the demands for a police state have always been inevitable.

The Warnings of George Washington One of the most significant doctrines set forth in the Farewell Address was Washington's extremely insightful warning concerning the peril of allowing candidates to be nominated and national policies to be promoted by competing political parties. In fact, he prophesied exactly what would happen if the American leaders ever fell into the seductive trap of trying to run the nation with opposing parties. He said:

"They serve to organize factions ... to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority....

"Let me ... warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party...."

Almost prophetically he anticipated the encroachment of one branch of government over the others.

He said:"It is important ... that ... those entrusted with its administration ... confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department any encroachment upon another.... The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create ... a real despotism."

Nothing aroused the wrath of Washington more than arrogant bureaucrats actually changing the fundamental structure of government by sheer despotic assertion of administrative power. He said: "If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpations; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed." The Warning of John Adams Among the warning voices of the Founders none was more forceful in proclaiming the need for a virtuous people to make the Constitution function than John Adams. He said: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." The Warnings of Thomas Jefferson During his two terms as President, Jefferson detected some evil and subversive trends which were luring the American people away from the original Constitution. Notice how direct he was in pointing the finger of accusation at the judiciary for corrupting the original constitutional plan: "Our government is now taking so steady a course as to show by what road it will pass to destruction, to wit, by consolidation first, and then corruption.... The engine of consolidation will be the federal judiciary; the two other branches the corrupting and corrupted instruments."

In other words, the Supreme Court uses its judicial mandates to draw more and more power to Washington; then the Congress and the Executive use this new power to shatter the Constitution and corrupt the dual federalism which was designed to balance the political powers between the government and the states.

Once Jefferson's distant cousin, John Marshall, became chief justice of the Supreme Court, Marshall set himself and his associates up as the "final arbiter" on all constitutional issues. Nowhere in the Constitution was the federal judiciary given the power to enforce its will on the states or the other two federal departments. Jefferson had the Supreme Court in his gun sights when he wrote: "The great object of my fear is the federal judiciary. That body, like gravity, ever acting with noiseless foot and unalarming advance, gaining ground step by step and holding what it gains, is engulfing insidiously the [state] governments into the jaws of that [federal government] which feeds them." The Warnings of James Madison Madison was known to be the philosophical soul-mate of Thomas Jefferson, but sometimes his contemporaries considered him somewhat paranoid and suffering from fears for the nation that would never happen. But the passing of time was to prove him more insightful than many of his contemporaries had thought. He said:

"If Congress can employ money indefinitely, for the general welfare, and are the sole and supreme judges of the general welfare, they may take the care of religion into their own hands; they may appoint teachers in every state, county, and parish, and pay them out of the public treasury; they may take into their own hands the education of children, the establishing in like manner schools throughout the union; they may assume the provision of the poor.... Were the power of Congress to be established in the latitude contended for, it would subvert the very foundations, and transmute the very nature of the limited government established by the people of America." The Warnings of Abraham Lincoln At the age of twenty-eight, Abraham Lincoln gave one of the great speeches of his life. He had been asked to speak at the Young Men's Lyceum at Springfield, the capital city of Illinois. He chose as his subject, "The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions." The date was January 27, 1837. Lincoln deplored the spirit of lawlessness that was increasing among the people. He said:

"There is even now something of ill omen amongst us. I mean that increasing disregard for law which pervades the country -- the growing disposition to substitute the wild and furious passion in lieu of the sober judgment of courts, and the worse than savage mobs for the executive ministers of justice. The disposition is awfully fearful in any community; and that it now exists in ours ... it would be a violation of truth to deny."

He was not afraid of invasion from without, but he saw the ominous possibility of self-destruction from within. He said:

"At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reaches us, it must spring up among us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time or die by suicide." The Warnings of Alex De Tocqueville In 1830 a young judge from France arrived in America. His name was Alexis de Tocqueville. He came to study the American system. He and his friend soaked up more information about the great American experiment in ten months than most scholars absorb in a lifetime.

Returning to France, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote a two-volume work entitled, Democracy in America . De Tocqueville saw the people of the United States passing through several distinct stages. First of all, he saw the strength of character and moral integrity that would make them prosperous. But as they became self-sufficient he saw that they would be less concerned about each other and much less concerned about the principles that made them a great people. This would leave them vulnerable to the manipulation of clever politicians who would begin to promise them perpetual security if they accepted certain schemes contrived by some of their leaders. He then described what modern students have been led to identify as "democratic socialism.":

"That power is absolute, minute, regular, provident, and mild. It would be like the authority of a parent, if, like that authority, its object was to prepare men for manhood; but it seeks on the contrary to keep them in perpetual childhood; it is well content that the people should rejoice, provided they think of nothing but rejoicing.

"For their happiness such a government willingly labors, but it chooses to be the sole agent and the only arbiter of that happiness; it provides for their security, foresees and supplies their necessities, facilitates their pleasures, manages their principal concerns, directs their industry, regulates the descent of property, and subdivides their inheritances -- what remains, to spare them all the care of thinking and the trouble of living."

"After having thus successively taken each member of the community in its powerful grasp, and fashioned them at will, the supreme power then extends its arm over the whole community. It covers the surface of society with a network of small complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. "The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided -- men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting. Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till [the] nation is reduced to be nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd."

Are not these warnings sobering? Can we not see every one of them in fulfillment today? Yet in spite of all these dire predictions, the Founders assured us there is a manifest destiny for America that would cause her to rise from the ashes. It is this prophecy that keeps us going.

Is each of us doing all we can to help? Have you had a seminar for your friends in your area yet? Can you spare a little of your resources to help us continue?

Thank you for all you do or will do.

Sincerely,

Earl Taylor, Jr.


TOPICS: History; Religion & Culture; Religion & Politics; Theology
KEYWORDS: founders

1 posted on 06/02/2020 6:45:41 AM PDT by The Ignorant Fisherman
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To: The Ignorant Fisherman

I’ve believed this since about a year after Trump’s election: 2020 will be our country’s last presidential election.

No matter who wins.


2 posted on 06/02/2020 6:47:20 AM PDT by cuban leaf (The political war playing out in every country now: Globalists vs Nationalists)
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To: cuban leaf

Really? Why not sell all you have and build a bunker?


3 posted on 06/02/2020 6:49:06 AM PDT by jmaroneps37 (Conservatism is truth. Liberalism is li)
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To: jmaroneps37

Really? Why not sell all you have and build a bunker?


Why?

And, for the record, I sort of already have. It’s a small part of the reason I left Seattle in 2011 and moved to a 32 acre hobby farm in south-central rural kentucky. I just finished my 60x30 garage shop.

The property has 25 acres of woods, two streams and one year ‘round natural well. I sorta have built a bunker. And everything I own IS a tool of some sort. Even my cars are “tools”. The serve a function.

It’s paradise up here (we live on one of two knobs) and we can be 100% self sufficient if necessary. We started raising some chickens again when the CV thing started getting stupid. We also have a couple of head of cattle.


4 posted on 06/02/2020 7:03:29 AM PDT by cuban leaf (The political war playing out in every country now: Globalists vs Nationalists)
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To: The Ignorant Fisherman

Somebody has pointed out a great parallel that exists between this and the Nika riots.

A Byzantine Approach to Antifa

https://stream.org/a-byzantine-approach-to-antifa/

More on the Nika riots.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nika_riots


5 posted on 06/02/2020 7:20:57 AM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy (Liberalism is the belief everyone else should be in treatment for your disorder.)
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To: cuban leaf

At this point I truly believe this my self, still can’t believe Trump won in 2016, the Grace of God on America!! IF the Rapture took place today what kind of America would be left? It would totally implode and be left to national lawlessness. Thank God for Pres. Trump holding back the Anerican Dem barbarians but for how long!?

Jesus saves Americans! The Day of the Lord is at hand!

Thanks for your reply!!


6 posted on 06/02/2020 7:45:32 AM PDT by The Ignorant Fisherman
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To: The Ignorant Fisherman

As time passes I’m more convinced that Trump’s election was divine intervention.

Where would we be if Hillary had been elected?


7 posted on 06/02/2020 7:47:08 AM PDT by cuban leaf (The political war playing out in every country now: Globalists vs Nationalists)
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To: cuban leaf

Totally agree and see the hand of Alnighty God’s grace on Anerica and gave us at least four more years to wake up... And what God did was totally expose the American Left from top to bottom these last 4 years and still at least half of America loves its it and wants it! Insanity! I still can’t believe Trump won Pennsylvania!! Lol... signs and wonders from our RIGHTEOUS Creator!

Check out the Declaration of Independence and see how Almighty God was so exalted and sought after in reality. That is why He has been so gracious to America! He remembers our Founding Fathers covenant with Him in 1776.


8 posted on 06/02/2020 8:05:19 AM PDT by The Ignorant Fisherman
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To: The Ignorant Fisherman
What we are seeing is organized anarchy. Antifa and like groups have been waiting for the right opportunity to push their agenda. The George Floyd murder at the hands of a corrupt police department was the ready made spark to trigger their uprising especially since the videos almost immediately went viral on social media. The liberal leaders of major cities and some governors tried to appease the rioters by confessing their white privilege and allowing the rioters to run amuck.

Now things have gotten out of hand and the Antifa groups are on a rampage bent on overthrowing Trump and capitalism. This could well be civil war as the only way these riots can now be repressed is through strong force.

9 posted on 06/02/2020 8:09:20 AM PDT by The Great RJ ("Socialists are happy until they run out of other people's money." Margaret Thatcher)
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To: The Ignorant Fisherman

Reagan spoke of the fragileness of freedom. It does appear we’re near a turning point. God willing Trump gets re-elected, otherwise there’s big trouble in “River City”.


10 posted on 06/02/2020 8:10:24 AM PDT by kenmcg (tHE WHOLE)
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To: kenmcg

Facts!!


11 posted on 06/02/2020 8:29:49 AM PDT by The Ignorant Fisherman
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To: The Great RJ

I totally believe it is a marxist revolution backed by the Anerica left in every facet. Once again the godless white Left using black America and the lawless oppression of them by Leftist white and black leaders by their lawless and godless policies on them.

They are the true tyrants!


12 posted on 06/02/2020 8:35:39 AM PDT by The Ignorant Fisherman
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To: The Ignorant Fisherman

Oh please. It’s like people never heard of the 60s.


13 posted on 06/02/2020 8:38:00 AM PDT by discostu (I know that's a bummer baby, but it's got precious little to do with me)
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To: discostu

?


14 posted on 06/02/2020 9:06:31 AM PDT by The Ignorant Fisherman
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To: The Ignorant Fisherman

They’re acting like this is the first time America has had wide spread race riots. Really compared to the 60s and even 70s this ain’t nothing. This is warm up. If this takes us out, we were already out.


15 posted on 06/02/2020 9:09:04 AM PDT by discostu (I know that's a bummer baby, but it's got precious little to do with me)
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To: discostu

Did the 60’s and 70’s have global mediums to use and EXPONENTIAL high tech and Twitter to 24/7 agitate and stir up and spread evil Marxism? Is today’s social environment the same as the 60’s and 70’s ? Was there gay marriage , 120 genders, 60 million abortions, full blown Marxist and a full blown commie Dem party running the House, Media, Hollywood, in your face and unashamed leaders pushing all sorts of Godlessness, porn websites the #1 visited sites in America, 18-45 year olds who reject outright Almighty God and desire socialism?

It’s not the same... no where close! its EXPONENTIAL in every way and facet today and people need to see that demention to it! This scares me that people are this clueless... especially here at FR, no offence but wake up!


16 posted on 06/02/2020 9:40:43 AM PDT by The Ignorant Fisherman
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To: The Ignorant Fisherman

Oddly enough they didn’t NEED one to have multiple simultaneous riots all over the country. Also terrorist bombings.

You got one thing right. It’s no where near close. The 60s and 70s were a solid 10 times more violent, dangerous, and intense when this stuff was going.


17 posted on 06/02/2020 9:42:57 AM PDT by discostu (I know that's a bummer baby, but it's got precious little to do with me)
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