"THE INVISIBLE HAND . . ."

THE FACE OF A RIGHT-WING EXTREMIST according to the OBAMA REGIME

AND

ME

Overland Park, Kansas - April 16, 2009

The day after, the day after when 100 of thousands of Americans upheld their rights under the First Amendment.  Hundreds of thousands who peacefully assembled and let their voices ring true, from the metropolis of New York, New York across the Midwest to the golden state of California.   We the people want our government back.  One things is clear those in power and the elite media with their pundits, do not get the rumblings and the power of this mighty wave.  The media labeled those that attended Tea Parties as:  a Sexual Joke ("Tea bagging"), "steeped in insanity", "nut jobs", "not really family viewing".  The Federal Government the Department of Homeland Security DHS as "right wing extremist".  

DHS labels extremist as "any group that rejects federal authority in favor of state and local authority."  Well, the founding fathers were right wing extremist, the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence and the men behind the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, all were right wing extremist, because they believed in limited government and the powers not expressly granted to the Federal Government were reserved or placed in the hands of the states and we the people.

The U.S. Constitution in Article I expressly enumerates 18 powers the Federal Government can wield.  In fact ask any Constitutional Scholar or that matter any U.S. Supreme Court Justice if the Federal government has "Police Power"? (the right to legislate for the public welfare, security, morals, and welfare)  The answer is no, Supreme Court rulings over and over again state that "police power" rests with the states.  Today, the federal government has usurped power that belongs to the states and more importantly to we the people.  That is what the Tea Parties are all about, power, who in our republic maintains the power.  According to the founders, it is the people and the states.  The Tea Parties on April 15, 2009 was we the people addressing those grievances, just as the 56 signers listed 27 grievances (abuses) to King George III, so to we the people were making our voices heard toward the Obama administration.  If this makes me a right wing extremist, so be it and here are other reasons to add me to your list, Secretary Napolitano.

I believe in God and my Lord and Savior is Jesus Christ.  I not only read the Bible, but also memorize key passages.  I attended and graduated from a Christian High School.  I earned a Bachelor of Arts from a Bible College.  My law degree was earned at a right wing extremist University founded by Pat Robertson, Regent University School of Law.  I send my three children to Private Christian School.  I own two SKS, Walther PPK, Colt .38, Beretta 9 mm, several shotguns, and several rifles.  I am Pro-Life, no exceptions.  I believe God created everything in 6 days (so does Chick-fil-a).  I took two years off from my law practice and taught in the USD-500 School District at Washington H.S. in Kansas City, Kansas.  I prayed as a teacher in the high school.  My students used a hall pass with the image of the Ten Commandments.  I taught my students that the government is constrained by the U.S. Constitution and is a limited form of government.  My students also know that our government is not a democracy, but a republic.  I despise debt.  I back my savings with gold.  Yes, I took one of my sons to a Tea Party yesterday.

Did I feel like an extremist at the Kansas City Tea Party in the shadows of the National World War I monument, The Liberty Memorial?  No, I felt like a true blooded American, like my neighbors, friends, and Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Washington, Henry, Warren, Hancock, Witherspoon, and Carroll.  

-LEX REX 

OUR LIBERTY IS UNDER ATTACK . . .WHERE HAVE YOU GONE 56 SIGNERS?

56 SIGNERS ARE ASKING, WHY?

DO NOT LET LIBERTY FALL UNDER YOUR WATCH

One day you are flying on a Trans-Pacific flight in 2009 and suddenly while you are flying over the Pacific Ocean you are transported to an Island that you have visited before, but this time everything is different it is not 2009 but 1977 . . . I told you I am a big fan of LOST.  This is how I feel every morning I wake-up in this beloved Country Our Republic, the United States of America, but today is different, our liberty, our values, our freedom, our property rights, and our country is being invaded from within, it is an orchestrated, perfectly planned attack and if we sit idly by, our country will be lost and our freedom and liberty will fall as we watch.  

In Nazi Germany a Pastor named Martin Niemoller,who was imprisoned by Hitler, penned these words titled, "First They Came . . .":

"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;

And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;

And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;

And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."

Now is the time to stand-up and speak-out, just as the brave 56 signers did in forming this Nation and bringing about our freedom and liberty, who ended their DECLARATION with these words . . .  And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Signed by ORDER and in BEHALF of the CONGRESS, 
JOHN HANCOCK, PRESIDENT. 
ATTEST.
CHARLES THOMSON, SECRETARY.

[Column 1]

Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

[Column 2]
North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

[Column 3]
Massachusetts: John Hancock 
Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

[Column 4]
Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross 
Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

[Column 5] 
New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris 
New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

[Column 6]
New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple 
Massachusetts: Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry 
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery 
Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott 
New Hampshire: Matthew Thornton

IF WE DO NOTHING, IF WE DO NOT SPEAK, IF WE DO NOT STAND, IF WE DO NOT FIGHT . . . 

Our Nation is Lost.  thanks to Mike Church for allowing us to display the Inspiration for this article, simply titled, "Mr. Jefferson."

Lex Rex

THESE ARE THE TIMES THAT TRY MENS SOULS

FLASHBACK DECEMBER 1776:   On December 17, 1776, Washington wrote to his brother: "Your imagination can scarce extend to a situation more distressing than mine…. I think the game is pretty near up…."

The American cause seemed doomed. But Washington had formed a daring plan, one that very few people thought could succeed. He would transport his army in boats across the Delaware River for a surprise attack on King George III's  hired German soldiers, the Hessians, who were camped in Trenton, New Jersey. As the soldiers prepared, Thomas Paine, at Washington's request, at once began writing the series of essays called The Crisis. The purpose was to inspire hope and to remind people of what they were fighting for: freedom. Paine then hurried to nearby Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where his first paper was published in the Pa. Journal on December 19, 1776.

On December 23, in a freezing snowstorm, just as Washington's men were climbing into boats for the crossing of the Delaware River, Washington had Paine's inspiring words read to his men. The Crisis reminded Washington's soldiers and all Americans that even though times were desperate, those who rallied now would deserve the highest "love and thanks" of every man and woman. Paine reminded soldiers that they were fighting against the worst kind of tyranny, and that the harder the fight, the greater the triumph. He further reminded them that to submit to British taxes and to the British army sent to enforce the payment of those taxes, would make Americans nothing more than slaves.

Things to Remember While Reading an Excerpt from the Crisis:

• Paine truly believed that America would form a superior system of government and that America could not be conquered. His conviction is clear in his encouraging words to the American people. Throughout The Crisis papers, Paine repeatedly attacked the fainthearted, the "summer soldiers" and "sunshine patriots."
• More than any other Revolutionary-era writer, Paine expressed his ideas in language for the common people. He liked to portray the struggle for independence as a simple struggle between good and evil. Naturally, the colonists were on the good side.    

  THE CRISIS

by Thomas Paine

December 23, 1776

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER" and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.

Whether the independence of the continent was declared too soon, or delayed too long, I will not now enter into as an argument; my own simple opinion is, that had it been eight months earlier, it would have been much better. We did not make a proper use of last winter, neither could we, while we were in a dependent state. However, the fault, if it were one, was all our own [NOTE]; we have none to blame but ourselves. But no great deal is lost yet. All that Howe has been doing for this month past, is rather a ravage than a conquest, which the spirit of the Jerseys, a year ago, would have quickly repulsed, and which time and a little resolution will soon recover.

I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my secret opinion has ever been, and still is, that God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent. Neither have I so much of the infidel in me, as to suppose that He has relinquished the government of the world, and given us up to the care of devils; and as I do not, I cannot see on what grounds the king of Britain can look up to heaven for help against us: a common murderer, a highwayman, or a house-breaker, has as good a pretence as he.

'Tis surprising to see how rapidly a panic will sometimes run through a country. All nations and ages have been subject to them. Britain has trembled like an ague at the report of a French fleet of flat-bottomed boats; and in the fourteenth [fifteenth] century the whole English army, after ravaging the kingdom of France, was driven back like men petrified with fear; and this brave exploit was performed by a few broken forces collected and headed by a woman, Joan of Arc. Would that heaven might inspire some Jersey maid to spirit up her countrymen, and save her fair fellow sufferers from ravage and ravishment! Yet panics, in some cases, have their uses; they produce as much good as hurt. Their duration is always short; the mind soon grows through them, and acquires a firmer habit than before. But their peculiar advantage is, that they are the touchstones of sincerity and hypocrisy, and bring things and men to light, which might otherwise have lain forever undiscovered. In fact, they have the same effect on secret traitors, which an imaginary apparition would have upon a private murderer. They sift out the hidden thoughts of man, and hold them up in public to the world. Many a disguised Tory has lately shown his head, that shall penitentially solemnize with curses the day on which Howe arrived upon the Delaware.

As I was with the troops at Fort Lee, and marched with them to the edge of Pennsylvania, I am well acquainted with many circumstances, which those who live at a distance know but little or nothing of. Our situation there was exceedingly cramped, the place being a narrow neck of land between the North River and the Hackensack. Our force was inconsiderable, being not one-fourth so great as Howe could bring against us. We had no army at hand to have relieved the garrison, had we shut ourselves up and stood on our defence. Our ammunition, light artillery, and the best part of our stores, had been removed, on the apprehension that Howe would endeavor to penetrate the Jerseys, in which case Fort Lee could be of no use to us; for it must occur to every thinking man, whether in the army or not, that these kind of field forts are only for temporary purposes, and last in use no longer than the enemy directs his force against the particular object which such forts are raised to defend. Such was our situation and condition at Fort Lee on the morning of the 20th of November, when an officer arrived with information that the enemy with 200 boats had landed about seven miles above; Major General [Nathaniel] Green, who commanded the garrison, immediately ordered them under arms, and sent express to General Washington at the town of Hackensack, distant by the way of the ferry = six miles. Our first object was to secure the bridge over the Hackensack, which laid up the river between the enemy and us, about six miles from us, and three from them. General Washington arrived in about three-quarters of an hour, and marched at the head of the troops towards the bridge, which place I expected we should have a brush for; however, they did not choose to dispute it with us, and the greatest part of our troops went over the bridge, the rest over the ferry, except some which passed at a mill on a small creek, between the bridge and the ferry, and made their way through some marshy grounds up to the town of Hackensack, and there passed the river. We brought off as much baggage as the wagons could contain, the rest was lost. The simple object was to bring off the garrison, and march them on till they could be strengthened by the Jersey or Pennsylvania militia, so as to be enabled to make a stand. We staid four days at Newark, collected our out-posts with some of the Jersey militia, and marched out twice to meet the enemy, on being informed that they were advancing, though our numbers were greatly inferior to theirs. Howe, in my little opinion, committed a great error in generalship in not throwing a body of forces off from Staten Island through Amboy, by which means he might have seized all our stores at Brunswick, and intercepted our march into Pennsylvania; but if we believe the power of hell to be limited, we must likewise believe that their agents are under some providential control.

I shall not now attempt to give all the particulars of our retreat to the Delaware; suffice it for the present to say, that both officers and men, though greatly harassed and fatigued, frequently without rest, covering, or provision, the inevitable consequences of a long retreat, bore it with a manly and martial spirit. All their wishes centred in one, which was, that the country would turn out and help them to drive the enemy back. Voltaire has remarked that King William never appeared to full advantage but in difficulties and in action; the same remark may be made on General Washington, for the character fits him. There is a natural firmness in some minds which cannot be unlocked by trifles, but which, when unlocked, discovers a cabinet of fortitude; and I reckon it among those kind of public blessings, which we do not immediately see, that God hath blessed him with uninterrupted health, and given him a mind that can even flourish upon care.

I shall conclude this paper with some miscellaneous remarks on the state of our affairs; and shall begin with asking the following question, Why is it that the enemy have left the New England provinces, and made these middle ones the seat of war? The answer is easy: New England is not infested with Tories, and we are. I have been tender in raising the cry against these men, and used numberless arguments to show them their danger, but it will not do to sacrifice a world either to their folly or their baseness. The period is now arrived, in which either they or we must change our sentiments, or one or both must fall. And what is a Tory? Good God! What is he? I should not be afraid to go with a hundred Whigs against a thousand Tories, were they to attempt to get into arms. Every Tory is a coward; for servile, slavish, self-interested fear is the foundation of Toryism; and a man under such influence, though he may be cruel, never can be brave.

But, before the line of irrecoverable separation be drawn between us, let us reason the matter together: Your conduct is an invitation to the enemy, yet not one in a thousand of you has heart enough to join him. Howe is as much deceived by you as the American cause is injured by you. He expects you will all take up arms, and flock to his standard, with muskets on your shoulders. Your opinions are of no use to him, unless you support him personally, for 'tis soldiers, and not Tories, that he wants.

I once felt all that kind of anger, which a man ought to feel, against the mean principles that are held by the Tories: a noted one, who kept a tavern at Amboy, was standing at his door, with as pretty a child in his hand, about eight or nine years old, as I ever saw, and after speaking his mind as freely as he thought was prudent, finished with this unfatherly expression, "Well! give me peace in my day." Not a man lives on the continent but fully believes that a separation must some time or other finally take place, and a generous parent should have said, "If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace;" and this single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to awaken every man to duty. Not a place upon earth might be so happy as America. Her situation is remote from all the wrangling world, and she has nothing to do but to trade with them. A man can distinguish himself between temper and principle, and I am as confident, as I am that God governs the world, that America will never be happy till she gets clear of foreign dominion. Wars, without ceasing, will break out till that period arrives, and the continent must in the end be conqueror; for though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire.

America did not, nor does not want force; but she wanted a proper application of that force. Wisdom is not the purchase of a day, and it is no wonder that we should err at the first setting off. From an excess of tenderness, we were unwilling to raise an army, and trusted our cause to the temporary defence of a well-meaning militia. A summer's experience has now taught us better; yet with those troops, while they were collected, we were able to set bounds to the progress of the enemy, and, thank God! they are again assembling. I always considered militia as the best troops in the world for a sudden exertion, but they will not do for a long campaign. Howe, it is probable, will make an attempt on this city [Philadelphia]; should he fail on this side the Delaware, he is ruined. If he succeeds, our cause is not ruined. He stakes all on his side against a part on ours; admitting he succeeds, the consequence will be, that armies from both ends of the continent will march to assist their suffering friends in the middle states; for he cannot go everywhere, it is impossible. I consider Howe as the greatest enemy the Tories have; he is bringing a war into their country, which, had it not been for him and partly for themselves, they had been clear of. Should he now be expelled, I wish with all the devotion of a Christian, that the names of Whig and Tory may never more be mentioned; but should the Tories give him encouragement to come, or assistance if he come, I as sincerely wish that our next year's arms may expel them from the continent, and the Congress appropriate their possessions to the relief of those who have suffered in well-doing. A single successful battle next year will settle the whole. America could carry on a two years' war by the confiscation of the property of disaffected persons, and be made happy by their expulsion. Say not that this is revenge, call it rather the soft resentment of a suffering people, who, having no object in view but the good of all, have staked their own all upon a seemingly doubtful event. Yet it is folly to argue against determined hardness; eloquence may strike the ear, and the language of sorrow draw forth the tear of compassion, but nothing can reach the heart that is steeled with prejudice.

Quitting this class of men, I turn with the warm ardor of a friend to those who have nobly stood, and are yet determined to stand the matter out: I call not upon a few, but upon all: not on this state or that state, but on every state: up and help us; lay your shoulders to the wheel; better have too much force than too little, when so great an object is at stake. Let it be told to the future world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet and to repulse it. Say not that thousands are gone, turn out your tens of thousands; throw not the burden of the day upon Providence, but "show your faith by your works," that God may bless you. It matters not where you live, or what rank of life you hold, the evil or the blessing will reach you all. The far and the near, the home counties and the back, the rich and the poor, will suffer or rejoice alike. The heart that feels not now is dead; the blood of his children will curse his cowardice, who shrinks back at a time when a little might have saved the whole, and made them happy. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. My own line of reasoning is to myself as straight and clear as a ray of light. Not all the treasures of the world, so far as I believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a thief breaks into my house, burns and destroys my property, and kills or threatens to kill me, or those that are in it, and to "bind me in all cases whatsoever" to his absolute will, am I to suffer it? What signifies it to me, whether he who does it is a king or a common man; my countryman or not my countryman; whether it be done by an individual villain, or an army of them? If we reason to the root of things we shall find no difference; neither can any just cause be assigned why we should punish in the one case and pardon in the other. Let them call me rebel and welcome, I feel no concern from it; but I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul by swearing allegiance to one whose character is that of a sottish, stupid, stubborn, worthless, brutish man. I conceive likewise a horrid idea in receiving mercy from a being, who at the last day shall be shrieking to the rocks and mountains to cover him, and fleeing with terror from the orphan, the widow, and the slain of America.

There are cases which cannot be overdone by language, and this is one. There are persons, too, who see not the full extent of the evil which threatens them; they solace themselves with hopes that the enemy, if he succeed, will be merciful. It is the madness of folly, to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice; and even mercy, where conquest is the object, is only a trick of war; the cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf, and we ought to guard equally against both. Howe's first object is, partly by threats and partly by promises, to terrify or seduce the people to deliver up their arms and receive mercy. The ministry recommended the same plan to Gage, and this is what the tories call making their peace, "a peace which passeth all understanding" indeed! A peace which would be the immediate forerunner of a worse ruin than any we have yet thought of. Ye men of Pennsylvania, do reason upon these things! Were the back counties to give up their arms, they would fall an easy prey to the Indians, who are all armed: this perhaps is what some Tories would not be sorry for. Were the home counties to deliver up their arms, they would be exposed to the resentment of the back counties who would then have it in their power to chastise their defection at pleasure. And were any one state to give up its arms, that state must be garrisoned by all Howe's army of Britons and Hessians to preserve it from the anger of the rest. Mutual fear is the principal link in the chain of mutual love, and woe be to that state that breaks the compact. Howe is mercifully inviting you to barbarous destruction, and men must be either rogues or fools that will not see it. I dwell not upon the vapors of imagination; I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as A, B, C, hold up truth to your eyes.

I thank God, that I fear not. I see no real cause for fear. I know our situation well, and can see the way out of it. While our army was collected, Howe dared not risk a battle; and it is no credit to him that he decamped from the White Plains, and waited a mean opportunity to ravage the defenceless Jerseys; but it is great credit to us, that, with a handful of men, we sustained an orderly retreat for near an hundred miles, brought off our ammunition, all our field pieces, the greatest part of our stores, and had four rivers to pass. None can say that our retreat was precipitate, for we were near three weeks in performing it, that the country might have time to come in. Twice we marched back to meet the enemy, and remained out till dark. The sign of fear was not seen in our camp, and had not some of the cowardly and disaffected inhabitants spread false alarms through the country, the Jerseys had never been ravaged. Once more we are again collected and collecting; our new army at both ends of the continent is recruiting fast, and we shall be able to open the next campaign with sixty thousand men, well armed and clothed. This is our situation, and who will may know it. By perseverance and fortitude we have the prospect of a glorious issue; by cowardice and submission, the sad choice of a variety of evils — a ravaged country — a depopulated city — habitations without safety, and slavery without hope — our homes turned into barracks and bawdy-houses for Hessians, and a future race to provide for, whose fathers we shall doubt of. Look on this picture and weep over it! and if there yet remains one thoughtless wretch who believes it not, let him suffer it unlamented.

December 23, 1776

-Posted by Lex Rex

THE LEGITIMATE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT: "TO EXECUTE THE SWORD"

Pastor Rick Warren Appeared on Fox Hannity & Colmes on December 3, 2008, "The Legitimate Role of Government" was one of the issues discussed.  Here is the discourse between Sean Hannity and Pastor Rick Warren:

HANNITY: But we're born in a fallen condition.

COLMES: We are?

HANNITY: I mean, so human beings are imperfect.

WARREN: Yes.

HANNITY: All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. OK, so with that understanding, there's always going to be human evil. The question is, can you eradicate it. In other words, the whole issue came up. Can you — can you talk to rogue dictators.

Ahmadinejad denies the Holocaust, wants to wipe Israel off the map, is seeking nuclear weapons.

WARREN: Yes.

HANNITY: I think we need to take him out.

WARREN: Yes.

HANNITY: Am I advocating something dark, evil or something righteous?

WARREN: Well, actually, the Bible says that evil cannot be negotiated with. It has to just be stopped. And I believe...

HANNITY: By force?

WARREN: Well, if necessary. In fact, that is the legitimate role of government. The Bible says that God puts government on earth to punish evildoers. Not good-doers. Evildoers.

HANNITY: I'm just gotten, thanks to my wife, who you know, you know, been reading the Old Testament. Because as a good Catholic growing up, I studied more the New Testament.

WARREN: Just ignored that part.

HANNITY: I ignored the Old Testament. But what about King David? What about the — all the battles, all the conflict, you know, going back - - you know, Abraham — Adam and Eve and their children, going forward?

WARREN: The point is, there are some things worth dying for. There's no doubt about that. And I would die for my family. I would die for my freedom. I would die for this country.

HANNITY: If somebody broke into your house, you would be justified to kill them?

WARREN: I would be justified to protect my family. Absolutely.

HANNITY: And if it took killing them?

WARREN: Absolutely.

HANNITY: But it's not murder at that point?

WARREN: No. Murder is not self-defense.

HANNITY: Yes.

WARREN: And the Bible also says that governments can do things that I'm not supposed to do as an individual. God has authorized — God has not put the law in my hands. He's put the law in the government's hands.

Responding to Hannity’s assertion that “we need to take him [Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] out,” Warren agreed, saying that stopping evil “is the legitimate role of government. The Bible says that God puts government on earth to punish evildoers.”

I believe Rick Warren was referring to Romans 13:1-3, which states, "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. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power?"

 

If you read the blogs all has been negative about this exchange, however if you go back to the Founding Fathers, many if not all, correspond and agree with Pastor Rick Warren's view of his analysis of governmental authority and jurisdiction.  "To Execute the Sword," and punish evil-doers is a legitimate role of government.  The Declaration of Independence echos this thought, "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.  Who is the Government?  "We the People. . ."

David Barton of Wallbuilders, in an article, WAS THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION A BIBLICALLY JUSTIFIED ACT?, talks about the two interpertations of Romans 13 and how the Founders Held Fast to the interpertation that the general institution of government has the right to execute the sword, but if it becomes destructive, wicked, evil then it is the right and duty of the people to change, disobey and even put in place a new government. 

Here, are the two sides of Romans 13--interpretations representing a debate that has existed among American Christians for centuries.

On one side was the belief that when government speaks, God requires us to obey. This same theological position resulted in the "Divine Right of Kings" philosophy which reasoned that since the King was chosen by God, God therefore expected all citizens to obey the King in all circumstances; anything less was rebellion against God.

The other interpretation of Romans 13 was set out in a 1579 work by Frenchman Philippe du Plessis Mornay, which was printed in English as "A Defense of Liberty Against Tyrants." This treatise took the position that government being ordained of God was referring to the general institution of government rather than to each distinct government.

God ordained government in lieu of anarchy. Yet, there clearly have been governments in recent years that promote anarchy, rebellion, and wickedness (e.g. Qadafi in Libya, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Idi Amin in Uganda). Has God endorsed those governments? If so, He has contradicted His nature and is commanding submission to the very things that He hates--which isn't possible.

Most Christian denominations during the American Revolution all believed that Romans 13 meant they were not to overthrow government as an institution and live in anarchy, but that this passage did not mean they had to submit to every civil law. (Note that in Hebrews 11, a number of those who made the cut in the "Faith Hall of Fame" as heroes of the faith were guilty of civil disobedience--including Daniel, the three Hebrew Children, the Hebrew Midwives, and Moses.) Furthermore, the Apostles in Acts 4-5 also declared they would obey God rather than civil authorities.

The real key to understanding civil disobedience and Romans 13 under this latter view, then, is to determine if the purpose of opposition is simply to resist the institution of government in general (which would be anarchy and would promote a rebellious spirit), or if it is to specifically resist bad laws, bad acts, or bad governments. The American Founding Fathers embraced the second interpretation of Romans 13, and therefore strongly opposed "Divine Right of Kings" theology, which was derived from the first interpretation of Romans 13. For example, Founding Father James Otis in a 1766 work argued that the only king who had any divine right was God; beyond that, God had ordained power to people.

Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States. A military force, at the command of Congress, can execute no laws, but such as the people perceive to be just and constitutional; for they will possess the power, and jealousy will instantly inspire the inclination, to resist the execution of a law which appears to them unjust and oppressive.
         ---Noah Webster, An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution (Philadelphia 1787).

This follows that "to execute the sword," is a legitimate power if that government is legitimate.  So that begs the question is the USA's government legitimate, if not, as I write gun sales are going through the roof.

-LEX REX

Dear USA, Thank You!

Dear USA,

I just wanted to write a quick letter expressing my deep gratitude. I am truly blessed to call my home the USA. As I write this letter away from my homeland in the country that borders you to the South, where in fact many of this country's citizens try to escape for a better life in the USA.

The story goes that my ancestors three Tompkins brothers boarded a ship in England to come to America to build a better future for their families and their future generations, so I am very thankful for the courage those early Tompkins had in taking that risk on the USA.

Now I will carry on the torch. The USA is the greatest nation in the world, because of our founding fathers and their faith in God. The founders enabled us to enjoy the blessings of liberty.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WORDS THAT SPARKED A REVOLUTION OF FREEDOM

hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

The Most Beautiful Words that sparked a revolution, that formed the greatest nation on earth, that produced the most freedom, are the words from the preamble of the Declaration of Independence. The preamble contains the fundamental doctrine of government the framers used as a blueprint for the Constitution. The Declaration of Independence, our national birth certificate contains the fundamental doctrine of government, in that, God is the grantor of unalienable rights to all persons, and government is to secure those rights. So, government is subservient to man via a "social compact" a two way agreement with man and government. Man is not subservient to the government, but the Declaration declared that "governments . . . deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." The Constitution is the compact "deriving its just powers from the consent of the governed." Thus the model the founders established for these United States.

These words, these beautiful words should be committed to memory by all Americans. We should talk of them daily at schools, at work, and at home for it is by these words our nation was founded.

These words are still alive and are the foundation of every conservative. In a recent article, Representative Thaddeus McCotter expressed Five Principles that stand upon these words, these beautiful words."NOW SEIZE FREEDOM:"
1.    Our liberty is from God not the government.
2.    Our sovereignty rests in our souls not the soil.
3.    Our security is through strength not surrender.
4.    Our prosperity is from the private sector not the public sector.
5.    Our truths are self-evident not relative.

Do not despair these words are still relevant today as they were in 1776.

Now take a look at this map, these words are still relevant in the U.S.A., this nation holds fast to conservative principles, so do not despair, FREEDOM WILL PREVAIL.

-Lex Rex