The One-Minute Patriot

Without public recognition that God is the transcendental basis of our government, our social order, and our moral character as a people, this nation will not stand.

John White, author-editor of 15 books, lives in Cheshire, Connecticut. This essay is adapted from his forthcoming book The Pledge of Allegiance & the Star-spangled Banner.

1. The fountainhead of American government and society — the most fundamental idea of all — is this: God is the mighty author of our being and the moral authority for our laws. Our Founders declared it was "self-evident" truth. The Declaration of Independence contains four references to deity: "Nature’s God," "Creator," "Supreme Judge of the world," and "Divine Providence." These make clear that in the political theory articulated by the Founders of America, God, not government, is the source of our freedom, our sovereignty, our rights, our justice, our human dignity, and all else which creates a good society. Therefore, patriots recognize that we are "one nation under God" and honor it in word and deed.

2. The corollary idea to that, which our Founders likewise held, is this: We are made in the image and likeness of God, and by virtue of our spiritual nature, every human being is sacred, sovereign, and inviolable. Therefore patriots recognize that "all men are created equal" and honor it in word and deed.

3. Freedom applies to all aspects of our existence, from the physical through the intellectual-emotional and the social-political to the spiritual. Liberty, a subset of freedom, refers to the social-political aspect of freedom. John Adams called God "the Spirit of Liberty."

4. Freedom is indivisible, so its various aspects are intimately related. Any diminishment of freedom in one aspect of our lives diminishes freedom in all other aspects.

5. God’s purpose in granting us freedom is to use it to show forth His glory in our entire existence.

6. Because all freedom comes from God, it carries an inherent responsibility to use it properly — i.e., morally and lawfully — to fulfill our obligation to our Creator. Freedom and responsibility are therefore intimately related. Without responsibility, liberty becomes libertinism or immoral, destructive behavior. Freedom is never license to do as we please, but only as we ought.

7. Our political experiment in self-government is predicated on each citizen governing himself morally and taking personal responsibility for his or her words and deeds. The more we obey God’s laws, the less need there is for man’s laws. The result is a godly society dedicated to glorifying our Creator. However, an immoral people is incapable of self-government.

8. Government has always been the greatest enemy of freedom, and therefore our Founders wrote a Constitution that established a minimal government for what was deemed necessary at the federal level, leaving all other powers and rights to the states and to the people themselves. "We the people" delegated authority to the federal government, and its powers were strictly enumerated and defined. Our Founders wanted freedom from government, not dependence on government. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are, in simplest terms, a carefully devised system to govern the government, not the people. They were not written to restrict the citizens of America; they were written to restrict the government and to protect our inherent liberties and rights. They would, as Jefferson put it, bind down with chains those who govern to keep them from mischief.

9. The principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence provided the philosophical framework for the system of ordered liberty established by the Constitution. Elected officials are required to take an oath affirming that they will support the Constitution. Obviously, supporting the Constitution means upholding and honoring the fundamental principles that it embodies. An official who egregiously violates that understanding is subject to impeachment, whether his or her misconduct involves high crimes (violations of law) or misdemeanors (grossly immoral misbehavior). Patriots recognize and honor the Constitution as the supreme law of our land, requiring office holders to protect, defend, and uphold it.

10. Our Founders separated church and state, not God and state. We have a secular government but a religious society. Without public recognition that God is the transcendental basis of our government, our social order, and our moral character as a people, this nation will not stand. The First Amendment prohibits any denomination from becoming the established, official religion of America; likewise it prohibits government from interfering with religious freedom and thereby allows full public expression of religion.

The Proper Function Of Government [excerpt] by Ezra Benson
Address:http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1294092/posts

In it he made these points, points that I believe both Christians & *atheists* can agree upon:

"Fifteen Principles Which Make For
Good And Proper Government"

"As an Independent American for constitutional government I declare that:

(1) I believe that no people can maintain freedom unless their political institutions are founded upon faith in God and belief in the existence of moral law.

(2) I believe that God has endowed men with certain unalienable rights as set forth in the Declaration of Independence and that no legislature and no majority, however great, may morally limit or destroy these; that the sole function of government is to protect life, liberty, and property and anything more than this is usurpation and oppression.

(3) I believe that the Constitution of the United States was prepared and adopted by men acting under inspiration from Almighty God; that it is a solemn compact between the peoples of the States of this nation which all officers of government are under duty to obey; that the eternal moral laws expressed therein must be adhered to or individual liberty will perish.

(4) I believe it a violation of the Constitution for government to deprive the individual of either life, liberty, or property except for these purposes:
(a) Punish crime and provide for the administration of justice;
(b) Protect the right and control of private property;
(c) Wage defensive war and provide for the nation's defense;
(d) Compel each one who enjoys the protection of government to bear his fair share of the burden of performing the above functions.

(5) I hold that the Constitution denies government the power to take from the individual either his life, liberty, or property except in accordance with moral law; that the same moral law which governs the actions of men when acting alone is also applicable when they act in concert with others;
that no citizen or group of citizens has any right to direct their agent, the government to perform any act which would be evil or offensive to the conscience if that citizen were performing the act himself outside the framework of government.

(6) I am hereby resolved that under no circumstances shall the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights be infringed. In particular I am opposed to any attempt on the part of the Federal Government to deny the people their right to bear arms, to worship and pray when and where they choose, or to own and control private property.

(7) I consider ourselves at war with international Communism which is committed to the destruction of our government, our right of property, and our freedom; that it is treason as defined by the Constitution to give aid and comfort to this implacable enemy.

(8) I am unalterable opposed to Socialism, either in whole or in part, and regard it as an unconstitutional usurpation of power and a denial of the right of private property for government to own or operate the means of producing and distributing goods and services in competition with private enterprise, or to regiment owners in the legitimate use of private property.

(9) I maintain that every person who enjoys the protection of his life, liberty, and property should bear his fair share of the cost of government in providing that protection; that the elementary principles of justice set forth in the Constitution demand that all taxes imposed be uniform and that each person's property or income be taxed at the same rate.

(10) I believe in honest money, the gold and silver coinage of the Constitution, and a circulation medium convertible into such money without loss. I regard it as a flagrant violation of the explicit provisions of the Constitution for the Federal Government to make it a criminal offense to use gold or silver coin as legal tender or to use irredeemable paper money.

(11) I believe that each State is sovereign in performing those functions reserved to it by the Constitution and it is destructive of our federal system and the right of self-government guaranteed under the Constitution for the Federal Government to regulate or control the States in performing their functions or to engage in performing such functions itself.

(12) I consider it a violation of the Constitution for the Federal Government to levy taxes for the support of state or local government; that no State or local government can accept funds from the Federal and remain independent in performing its functions, nor can the citizens exercise their rights of self-government under such conditions.

(13) I deem it a violation of the right of private property guaranteed under the Constitution for the Federal Government to forcibly deprive the citizens of this nation of their nation of their property through taxation or otherwise, and make a gift thereof to foreign governments or their citizens.

(14) I believe that no treaty or agreement with other countries should deprive our citizens of rights guaranteed them by the Constitution.

(15) I consider it a direct violation of the obligation imposed upon it by the Constitution for the Federal Government to dismantle or weaken our military establishment below that point required for the protection of the States against invasion, or to surrender or commit our men, arms, or money to the control of foreign ore world organizations of governments.

These things I believe to be the proper role of government."
Ezra Taft Benson

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