Americans Need Nation-Wide Libtard Control

The ghouls just couldn’t wait.  The usual suspects wasted no time dancing around the dead in Las Vegas while singing their hymnals of gun control.  The priests and priestesses from the High Church of Libtard would have us believe guns are responsible for committing mass murder.  Their bumper sticker gospel may seduce the weak and stupid, however, we need to expose their religion.

I have a question.  What do all these mass murderers have in common besides shooting innocent people?  I’ll tell you.  Everyone of them are godless and evil.  They are nihilist who believe in nothing.  Had they respect for themselves and their fellow man, these atrocities wouldn’t have happened.

These kinds of mass murders hardly ever happened prior to the 90’s.  I can think of the Texas tower shooting in 1966 and that is it.  Prior to that, I can’t think of one.  This kind of evil is unique to our time.

Progressives say they want a conversation about the source of these atrocities.  Believe me, they want no part of that.  The simple fact is they’re afraid we might expose them as the source for all this evil and outright absurdity.  They’re afraid Americans will begin to wonder how we as people have forsaken our history and culture as a Christian nation.  If we truly were to have a conversation about the source for all this evil, the American people would demand nation-wide libtard control.

We need to emphasize the fact that progressives have successfully transformed our country into a godless hellhole.  They have taken Christ out of our schools and the public square.  They accomplished this by bastardizing our history, language and the Constitution itself.  Recently, Chuck Todd from Meet the Press, stated Judge Roy Moore doesn’t have a fundamental understanding of the First Amendment because he believes our rights come from God and not the federal government.  Chuck Todd is the one who doesn’t have a basic understanding of our Constitution.

Anyone who studies American history cannot detach the moorings of the Christian faith from its people. Progressives may have anesthetized a couple of generations from our birthright, but they cannot erase our past; it is there for the truth seeker.  For example, in 1890, a conference was held on the question of freedmen.  Judge Albion W. Tourgee, a radical Republican and ardent abolitionist, believed the United States was a Christian nation.  Here is what he had to say about the issues of his day:

God keeps account between nations and peoples as well as between man and man.  History is but a record of his judgement upon them.  The Negro is not only “here to stay,” but is here to offer the American Christian republic a chance to atone by justice in the future for the sin of the past, and thereby, escape the wrath of that God to whom a thousand years are but a day.  It is all very well to look to the future; but he who tries to separate it, from the past is as foolish as one who seeks to run away from his own shadow.  Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow are an eternal repetend.

And this from the same conference:

I trust I may be pardoned in advance if, in my remark, my religion and my politics should become not merely “mixed,” as Dr. [Lyman] Abbott feared that his might, but even if it should appear that my religion is mostly politics; for I trust it will also become apparent that my “politics” is not altogether at odds with what we term “religion.”  I confess I have never been able to distinguish between them.  Without religion, politics is simply a hot-bed of iniquity, the stamping-ground of devilish impulse; and, without politics, religion is as dead as “faith without works.”  When Christianity quits the field of political relation or politics discards the tenets of Christian philosophy, I have little use for either.

Progressives could use more Christian philosophy.  It’s disturbing when they refuse to show sympathy for those who were slain by a godless maniac.

Source:

https://www.conservativereview.com/articles/chuck-todd-is-a-constitutional-illiterate#undefined.uxfs

http://dailycaller.com/2017/10/02/democrats-immediately-call-for-gun-control-after-las-vegas-shooting/

http://freebeacon.com/culture/cbs-executive-fired-no-sympathy-comments-las-vegas-shooting/

Liberal Malice and Ignorance Erodes Liberty

Most Americans have no fundamental understanding of our Constitution and the workings of our federalist system.  When the U.S. Supreme Court manufactured a right – gay marriage – by bastardizing the 14^th Amendment very few questioned the legitimacy of their dictum.  Actually, just the opposite happened.  Liberals were elated that five black robed thugs could whimsically impose their will upon the American people with little regard for the law, or the democratic process.

When an elected official from the state of Kentucky was jailed for practicing her Christian faith by denying marriage licenses to gay couples, the media celebrated.  They rejoiced that a Christian was being punished for exercising her First Amendment right of freedom of religion.  Mind you, this is an actual right enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, not some crypto-rightist nonsense promoted by liberals, their media surrogates, and enforced by a judicial oligarchy.

The above cartoon was published in the Charlotte Observer.  Kevin Siers is their illustrator.  He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his work denigrating the U.S. Constitution, federalism, conservatives and the Christian faith.  

The above cartoon is typical of the liberal mindset in today’s printed press.  As you can see, Mr. Siers has no understanding of the important role Christians played in the founding of this great nation.  As a matter of fact, he equates the “Jesus freaks” with the murderous ideology of Islam.  Either this man is stupid, or he’s intentionally insulting over 80% of the U.S. population who identify themselves as Christians.

What we have is a serious erosion of liberty brought upon by ignorance and  malice.  A professor from Princeton summed it up:

The professor said that most of his students would likely answer that the founders passed the Bill of Rights, leaving the Supreme Court with the power to enforce those rights.

 George contended that answer was wrong, saying, “That misunderstanding has led to a serious erosion of our freedom.

 Instead, the professor argued that the Bill of Rights were “hotly debated” because many feared it “would actually undermine the main protections against tyranny.” According to George, the Constitution’s call for a “limited nature of the national government” was itself the chief protection against tyranny.

“The Constitution did not envision a national government of general jurisdiction … but rather a government of enumerated and delegated powers. A government that had authority over only specific areas of American life,” he said, adding that “all other powers” were reserved to the states or “American people themselves.”

 George said that the Ninth and Tenth Amendments have failed to curtail the growth of the federal government and that the Supreme Court has failed to keep the other two legislative and executive branches in check, resulting in a loss of freedom for the American people.

And no one checks the Supreme Court when they legislate and create rights from the bench.

Source:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/08/princeton-prof-common-misunderstanding-of-constitution-has-led-to-serious-erosion-of-freedom/

Gov. Chris Christie Supports Black Robed Thuggery

Some of these republican candidates are making it easy to be winnowed out of consideration for the presidency.  Birthright citizenship eliminated over half of them and now we have a Kentucky county clerk jailed for exercising her First Amendment rights and defying a lawless federal judiciary.

Gov. Chris Christie has eliminated himself on both counts.  Here is his excuse for allowing birthright citizenship:

Christie: It’s in the Constitution and I don’t think we should be looking to change it. Now, what I said was, if we wanted to have comprehensive immigrant reform, I’d be willing to listen to anything. But the truth of the matter is that it’s not something that, that’s not something that we should be focused on, that is an applause line. The fact is that it is in the Constitution, let’s talk about the things we can fix, and fix simply without having to amend the Constitution where we would need two-thirds of the Congress and 38 states to agree.

Birthright citizenship for foreign nationals and their anchor babies is not in the Constitution.  I’m tired of politicians and media pundits perpetuating this lie.  The citizenship clause was designed to protect ex-slaves and their progeny.  That’s it!

Here is Gov. Christie’s response to the jailing of a Kentucky county clerk:

Earlier Tuesday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Davis should be given another government job, because those licenses “have to be issued” under the law.

 “People have a right to practice their religion,” Christie said on “Fox and Friends” Tuesday morning. “Now, I’ve said what I would do with this woman is to move her to another job where this is not an objection for her. Because you have to follow the law — and the law has to be these licenses have to be issued.”

“I think we should give her an option to do another job where her religious concerns are not going to be put into the cross hairs on this. So we have to have respect for people, but the government also has to function,” Christie said, adding that fellow 2016 Republican candidates shouldn’t “play politics” with the case.

Do we have to remind Gov. Christie that Kim Davis is an elected official?  Maybe a federal judge can find him a new job too.  How about janitor?  I’m sure a black robed thug can divine that in the 14^th Amendment as well.

Source:

 http://dailycaller.com/2015/08/23/christie-abolishing-birthright-citizenship-is-an-applause-line-video/#ixzz3lCK9c7Ys

https://www.yahoo.com/politics/kim-davis-the-kentucky-clerk-who-was-jailed-last-128638521231.html

Oregon Bureaucrat Denies Christian Business Owners First Amendment Rights

The strange case of an overzealous politician and bureaucrat hunting down Christian business owners and denying them freedom of association and religion has morphed into a complete repudiation of the First Amendment.  A Christian couple was ordered by Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian to “cease and desist” from speaking or publishing their thoughts about the commissioner’s thuggery in driving them out of business because they didn’t want to participate in a gay wedding.

The Daily Signal reported the following:

“This effectively strips us of all our First Amendment rights,” the Kleins, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, which has since closed, wrote on their Facebook page. “According to the state of Oregon we neither have freedom of religion or freedom of speech.”

 The cease and desist came about after Aaron and Melissa Klein participated in an interview with Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins. During the interview, Aaron said among other things, “This fight is not over. We will continue to stand strong.”

Lawyers for plaintiffs, Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer, argued that in making this statement, the Kleins violated an Oregon law banning people from acting on behalf of a place of public accommodation (in this case, the place would be the Kleins’ former bakery) to communicate anything to the effect that the place of public accommodation would discriminate.

“The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries hereby orders [Aaron and Melissa Klein] to cease and desist from publishing, circulating, issuing or displaying, or causing to be published … any communication to the effect that any of the accommodations … will be refused, withheld from or denied to, or that any discrimination be made against, any person on account of their sexual orientation,” Avakian wrote.

Commissioner Brad Avakian is a typical government thug straight from old school USSR, and that is basically what Hans Von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation stated:

It is exactly this kind of oppressive persecution by government officials that led the pilgrims to America. And Commissioner Avakian’s order that the Kleins stop speaking about this case is even more outrageous—and also a fundamental violation of their right to free speech under the First Amendment.

 Avakian would have fit right in as a bureaucrat in the Soviet Union or Red China. Oregon should be ashamed that such an unprincipled, scurrilous individual is a government official in the state.

If there is one thing we must learn, it's liberals have no shame.

Source:

http://dailysignal.com/2015/07/02/state-silences-bakers-who-refused-to-make-cake-for-lesbian-couple-fines-them-135k/

Washington D.C. Commits Bloodless Coup

The Supreme Court dealt a final blow to any pretense that we have a constitutional republic.  Their ruling to legalize gay marriages trampled upon the 10^th amendment and will, without a doubt, lay siege to the 1^st.  Liberal pundits declare this ruling will end the debate.  They couldn’t be more wrong.  We can expect churches and institutions of faith to be sued and eventually lose their tax exempt status, simply because progressives will never be satisfied until this country has conformity of thought and a homogenized attitude.

It is time to end this pretense.  The United States of America no longer exist as founded, or as we once understood it to be.  What we have is a Federal Government of America.  Washington D.C. dictates what we can and cannot do.  This power grab started a long time ago; but was never so prevalent as today.  What we witnessed this past week was a bloodless, Washington D.C. coup.

The Supreme Court has completely lost its credibility.  These progressive justices see themselves as demigods creating rights that only exist in their minds and rewriting bad laws to comport with their idealized version of America.

    

This may or may not be the high water mark for liberalism.  But one thing is for sure, Americans have to notice that we are under siege from a city that knows no limit to its power.  States have to invoke Article V of the U.S. Constitution and restore our constitutional republic. 

Progressive Torquemadas Hunt American Christians

The people who populated the English colonies in North America were Christians with deeply held beliefs.  They were nonconformist who wished to practice their religion without fear of persecution by those who would wield political power to coerce uniformity of thought.

The Library of Congress published the following on their website:

 Many of the British North American colonies that eventually formed the United States of America were settled in the seventeenth century by men and women, who, in the face of European persecution, refused to compromise passionately held religious convictions and fled Europe. The New England colonies, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland were conceived and established "as plantations of religion." Some settlers who arrived in these areas came for secular motives--"to catch fish" as one New Englander put it--but the great majority left Europe to worship God in the way they believed to be correct. They enthusiastically supported the efforts of their leaders to create "a city on a hill" or a "holy experiment," whose success would prove that God's plan for his churches could be successfully realized in the American wilderness. Even colonies like Virginia, which were planned as commercial ventures, were led by entrepreneurs who considered themselves "militant Protestants" and who worked diligently to promote the prosperity of the church.

Even the federal government recognizes Christianity played an important role in forming these United States.  So why have they forsaken the very foundation that made this country great?  Why are they persecuting Christians who wish to practice their religion by using the force of political power? 

The Obama administration has made it quite clear Christians, who own a business, are not allowed to practice their faith in the public square.  Many have been sued and bankrupted.  WND has made a case there is a hunt for Christian business owners whom refuse to participate in gay marriages.  This has caused a crisis of conscience and a usurpation of First Amendment rights.

 

This hostility has permeated our military.  Chaplains are being punished for presiding over private religious counseling sessions.  One in a Ranger battalion was reprimanded for using the Bible and promoting Christianity.  Another in the Navy lost his career.  The word is out: if you’re a Christian, you’d better think twice before entering the military.

Even funding websites has renounced Christian causes.  TownHall.com reported the following:

 Sure enough, after a GoFundMe site was set up to help the Kleins defray their legal expenses, the thought police went into action. Under pressure, GoFundMe quickly shut down the site that had raised over $110,000 for the Kleins. It also shut down a site created to help Arlene's Flowers, another company whose owner, Barronelle Stutzman, has faced civil fines for refusing to provide services to same-sex marriage ceremonies, citing her religious faith.

Most recently, the site shut down fundraising efforts to help the families of Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray.

The company issued a statement saying that they had changed their policy, which now bans any fundraising campaigns "in defense of formal charges or claims of heinous crimes, violent, hateful, sexual or discriminatory acts." Competitor site IndieGoGo soon followed suit.

Here's the magic formula: Make a claim of a "hateful" act (easy enough; every policy disagreement is "hate" these days), use social media and litigation to threaten and financially devastate your target, and then prevent any financial support from reaching them.

Progressive Torquemadas see Christians as a threat to their social order.  Anyone who doesn’t conform to their utopian mosque is considered a heretic.  There is no freedom of religion with these tormentors.  Worship will be contained at your home or church with their blessings, of course.

 

Source:

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel01.html

http://www.newsmax.com/t/newsmax/article/638918

http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/courts-conclude-faith-loses-to-gay-demands/

http://townhall.com/columnists/laurahollis/2015/05/07/the-lefts-new-insult-go-fund-yourself-n1995251/page/full

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom%C3%A1s_de_Torquemada

Homeland Security Changes Freedom of Religion to Worship

Liberals aren’t content changing the meaning of words to suit their agenda, or distorting the original intent of elastic clauses in the Constitution as a means to expand the purview of the federal government.  Now they’re rewriting the First Amendment in an insidious attempt to redefine religious freedom.  The Daily Signal reported the following:

A Republican senator from Oklahoma pressed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson at a hearing Wednesday about why the U.S. is “misrepresenting” Americans’ First Amendment right to freedom of religion to immigrants who are applying to become U.S. citizens.

“We in the United States actually have freedom of religion, not freedom of worship,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told Johnson yesterday during a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing.

Lankford was referring to the department’s decision to include “freedom of worship” instead of “freedom of religion” as a basic American right listed in the civics test that all immigrants must take to become a naturalized U.S. citizen.

This has been around for 10 years?  This demonstrates how deeply embedded statist are in these bureaucracies.

Source: 

http://dailysignal.com/2015/04/30/republican-senator-questions-why-immigration-exam-calls-freedom-of-religion-freedom-of-worship/

Apostles Preach the Gospel of Washington D.C.

Joseph de Maistre once wrote the maxim, “Every country gets the government it deserves.”  That is a powerful truism; one which deserves reflection, particularly in the world’s oldest republic turning into a free-for-all democracy.

 

The United States has become a Petri dish of populism despite warnings from our founding fathers.  They knew the perils of a democracy.  Life, liberty, property and self-government would eventually fall prey to demagogues who preach envy and greed from the pulpit of a grand centralized government.  These saviors from a distant capitol will take care of every base need and want of a salivating populace by taking from others.  Their “good book” is a preponderance of tax codes and regulations.  Their apostles are bureaucrats, lobbyists, community organizers, academia and so-called journalist preaching the gospel of Washington D.C.

To ensure the power of the federal pulpit, religious institutions have to be marginalized and silenced and what better way to do that then by advancing an onerous tax code that punishes political speech.  This was first done with the Tariff Act of 1894.  That law was declared unconstitutional in 1896.  Progressives wouldn’t be denied.  They once again re-established a church tax exemption in the Revenue Act of 1913.  This act is the foundation for violating the First Amendment rights of dissenting Christians in modern America by punishing churches that dare speak out against the depredations of a corrupt political system.

Progressives have found other means to advance their agenda by changing the behavior of congregants.  The Washington Free Beacon reported the following:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is spending $84,000 to study how churches can be used to combat climate change.

A taxpayer-funded graduate fellowship at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is examining 17 faith-based institutions that have implemented “sustainability initiatives” in the hopes of developing workshops to teach pastors and other religious leaders how to change the behaviors of their congregants.

“Climate change—which affects traditional faith-based efforts to improve human health, mitigate poverty and redress social inequity—is inspiring religious organizations to advocate for clean air and water, restore ecosystems, and conserve resources,” a grant for the project, which began last fall, states. “This project seeks to understand the empirical experiences of faith-based environmental efforts within communities.”

“Through what motivations and processes do congregation level sustainability initiatives emerge?” the grant asks. “What factors facilitate and/or hinder implementation of these initiatives? What environmental and community outcomes are perceived to have been achieved through these initiatives?”

“The results will provide insights into the role of religion and faith communities in motivating environmental behavior,” it said

   

Progressives don’t have a problem with separation of church and state as long as that church is the state.   Heterogeneous thought and governance is an apostasy to these cardinals of conformity.  Salvation can only be gained at the altar of the religion of liberalism.

Source:

http://freebeacon.com/issues/epa-spends-84000-to-study-churches-that-preach-climate-change/

http://costonscomplaint.blogspot.com/2012/04/progressives-muzzle-churches-through.html

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_de_Maistre

Christian Colleges Stay Away from Federal Loans

If you want freedom of religion in today’s America, you have to stay as far away from the federal government as possible, which means foregoing any and all financial assistance that may have the stink of Washington D.C. all over it.  Some small colleges would rather go it alone than compromise their religious beliefs.  The Blaze reported the following:

The estimated loss to Wyoming Catholic: $650,000 annually in loans and $250,000 in Pell grants students could have used to pay tuition costs.

Wyoming Catholic students would have become eligible for federal aid once the school finished gaining its accreditation, the Times noted.

But students and board members alike told the Times the loss was worth it if it meant the federal government could not impose religious freedom-infringing rules on the college.

The vast majority of Catholic universities, from more liberal institutions such as Notre Dame to more conservative colleges including the Franciscan University of Steubenville, do accept federal student aid — and the imposition of federal rules that comes with it.

This is just the beginning.

Source: 

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/04/12/a-tiny-catholic-school-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-is-taking-a-big-stand-against-the-federal-government/

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Wedding Cakes

Americans have a right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and wedding cakes!  Wedding cakes isn’t in the Declaration of Independence?  Surely, it’s in the Bill Rights.  No?  Are you trying to tell me the First Amendment declares we have a right to religious freedom and association, but no wedding cakes? 

In case you’ve been hiding under a rock, (probably in a vain attempt to evade the all-seeing eye of federal government bureaucrats), the state of Indiana and a small town pizzeria have come under attack for defending and espousing religious freedom, to be more particular, Christianity.

Militant gays and their praetorian guards in the media have been hunting down Christians, whom have the audacity to exercise their beliefs beyond the church doors.  If you hang a cross in your business, you’re the one who could be crucified, just ask Memories Pizza.

Progressives would have us believe that businesses are public establishments and owners are mere servants.  After all, you didn’t build that!  If your religion believes a marriage is between one man and one woman and participation in a gay wedding violates your conscience, that’s too bad.

 

Our military has provisions for conscientious objectors.  Your conscription into the Gay Army is nonnegotiable.    

Diner Threatened by Anti-Christian Bigots

Last week, customers were singing the praises of Mary’s Gourmet Diner for offering a 15% discount to anyone who offered a prayer of thanks to our Creator for the blessings they were about to receive.  That came to a screeching halt when the Freedom From Religion Foundation threatened this small business owner for having the audacity to exercise her God given right of freedom of religion and association.

I mentioned this restaurant last week in one of my post.  I predicted it was a matter of time before some scumbag organization, like The Freedom From Religion Foundation, would threaten to sue.   These people aren’t happy until their “religion” is imposed upon everyone else.  Here is an excerpt from CBS Charlotte:

The Freedom From Religion Foundation wrote a letter to Mary Haglund, owner of Mary’s Gourmet Diner, threatening legal action if the diner did not drop the 15 percent discount for praying because it violated the Civil Rights Act.

The “promotional practice favors religious customers, and denies customers who do not pray and nonbelievers the right to ‘full and equal’ enjoyment of Mary’s Gourmet Diner,” attorney Elizabeth Cavell wrote in the letter.

Following the letter, Haglund posted a note on the diner door informing customers that the 15 percent discount will no longer be allowed.

“We at Mary’s value the support of all of our fellow Americans. While you may exercise your right of religious freedom at this restaurant by praying over your meal to any entity or non-entity, we must protect your freedom from religion in a public place,” the note read. “We are no longer issuing the 15% praying in public discount. It is illegal and we are being threatened by lawsuit. We apologize to our community for any offense this discount has incurred.”

If a restaurant OWNER wants to give a discount to his/her customers that is their business.  If people don’t like it, don’t go there!  It is that simple.  But no, The Freedom From Religion Foundation has to trample on the civil rights of Christians.  The favorite libtard mantra is “you didn’t build that business. “ Well, apparently you don’t own it either.

Source:

http://charlotte.cbslocal.com/2014/08/07/diner-stops-giving-praying-in-public-discount-after-atheist-group-threatens-lawsuit/

http://costonscomplaint.blogspot.com/2014/08/diners-discount-for-prayer-draws.html

Sarah Palin on "The Church of Big Government"

The Bastardization of the Establishment Clause

When did this country forsake federalism for an omnipresent federal government?  Many would look to the War of Northern Aggression and subsequent occupation as the catalyst.  The radicals  of that era, led by Thaddeus Stevens, wanted to turn the South into a giant penitentiary.  The 14^th Amendment was their cudgel.  Over three quarters of that amendment was designed to deny Southerners their rights to property, political office, and the vote.  They were completely disenfranchised.  Isn’t it ironic that this amendment is on the books to this day?  And why is that?

When Congress cannot pass a law, the federal courts will use the 14^th Amendment to impose their will upon the States and the people, even though the U. S. Constitution has mandated limitations through the Bill of Rights.  A perfect example of the bastardization of our system of government is the Supreme Court ruling of Everson v. Board of Education.  Here is a synopsis:

Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S. 1 (1947)^[1][2] was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court which applied the Establishment Clause in the country's Bill of Rights to State law . Prior to this decision the First Amendment words, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion"^[3] imposed limits only on the federal government, while many states continued to grant certain religious denominations legislative or effective privileges.^[4] This was the first Supreme Court case incorporating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment as binding upon the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision in Everson marked a turning point in the interpretation and application of disestablishment law in the modern era.

Because of this unconstitutional ruling, atheists are expunging Christianity and prayer from the public square through the use of lawsuits.  They are going so far as to remove crosses or any like minded symbols off of public property whether it be federal, state, or local.  This is not what the establishment clause meant.  It wasn’t that long ago, before Everson, that President Calvin Coolidge dedicated a monument to an itinerant Methodist preacher that is currently standing in Washington D.C...  Below is his speech in its entirety.  The highlighted versions are my doing, so as to emphasize the importance of Christianity as purported by President Calvin Coolidge.
 

 


This occasion cannot but recall to our minds in a most impressive way the sacrifice and devotion that has gone into the making of our country. It is impossible to interpret it as the working out of a plan devised by man. The wisest and most far sighted of them had little conception of the greatness of the structure which was to arise on the foundation which they were making. As we review their accomplishments they constantly admonish us not only that "all things work together for good to them that love God," but that in the direction of the affairs of our country there has been an influence that had a broader vision, a greater wisdom and a wider purpose, than that of mortal man, which we can only ascribe to a Divine Providence. A wide variety of motives has gone into the building of our republic. We can never understand what self government is or what is necessary to maintain it unless we keep these fundamentals in mind. To one of them, Francis Asbury, the first American Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and his associates, made a tremendous contribution.

Our government rests upon religion. It is from that source that we derive our reverence for truth and justice, for equality and liberty, and for the rights of mankind. Unless the people believe in these principles they cannot believe in our government. There are only two main theories of government in the world. One rests on righteousness, the other rests on force. One appeals to reason, the other appeals to the sword. One is exemplified in a republic, the other is represented by a despotism. The history of government on this earth has been almost entirely a history of the rule of force held in the hands of a few. Under our constitution, America committed itself to the practical application of the rule of reason, with the power held in the hands of the people.

This result was by no means accomplished at once. It came about only by reason of long and difficult preparation, oftentimes accompanied with discouraging failure. The ability for self government is arrived at only through an extensive training and education. In our own case it required many generations, and we cannot yet say that it is wholly perfected. It is of a great deal of significance that the generation which fought the American Revolution had seen a very extensive religious revival. They had heard the preaching of Jonathan Edwards. They had seen the great revival meetings that were inspired also by the preaching of Whitefield. The religious experiences of those days made a profound impression upon the great body of the people They made new thoughts and created new interests. They freed the public mind, through a deeper knowledge and more serious contemplation of the truth. By calling the people to righteousness they were a direct preparation for self government. It was for a continuation of this work that Francis Asbury was raised up. Our government rests upon religion. The religious movement which he represented was distinctly a movement to reach the great body of the people Just as our Declaration of Independence asserts that all men are created free, so it seems to me the founders of this movement were inspired by the thought that all men were worthy to hear the Word, worthy to be sought out and brought to salvation. It was this motive that took their preachers among the poor and neglected, even to criminals in the jails. As our ideal has been to bring all men to freedom, so their ideal was to bring all men to salvation. It was preeminently a movement in behalf of all the people. It was not a new theory. The American Constitution was not a new theory. But, like it, it was the practical application of an old theory which was very new.

Just as the time was approaching when our country was about to begin the work of establishing a government which was to represent the rule of the people, where not a few but the many were to control public affairs, where the vote of the humblest was to count for as much as the vote of the most exalted, Francis Asbury came to America to preach religion. He had no idea that he was preparing men the better to take part in a great liberal movement, the better to take advantage of free institutions, and the better to perform the functions of self government. He did not come for political motives. Undoubtedly they were farthest from his mind. Others could look after public affairs. He was a loyal and peaceful subject of the Realm. He came to bring the gospel to the people, to bear witness to the truth and to follow it where so ever it might lead. Wherever men dwelt, whatever their condition, no matter how remote, no matter how destitute they might be, to him they were souls to be saved.

For this work, the bearing of the testimony of the truth to those who were about to be, and to those who in his later years were, sovereign American citizens, he had a peculiar training and aptitude. He was the son of a father who earned his livelihood by manual labor, of a mother who bore a reputation for piety. By constant effort they provided the ordinary comforts of life and an opportunity for intellectual and religious instruction. It was thus that he came out of a home of the people. Very early, at the age of seventeen, he began his preaching. In 1771, when he was twenty six years old, responding to a call for volunteers, he was sent by Wesley to America. Landing in Philadelphia, he began that ministry which in the next forty five years was to take him virtually all through the colonies and their western confines and into Canada, from Maine on the north, almost to the Gulf of Mexico on the south.

He came to America five years after the formation of the first Methodist Society in the city of New York, which had been contemporaneous with his own joining of the British Conference as an itinerant preacher and a gospel missionary. At that time it is reported that there were 316 members of his denomination in this country. The prodigious character of his labors is revealed when we remember that he traveled some 6,000 miles each year, or in all about 270,000 miles, preaching about 15,500 sermons and ordaining more than 4,000 clergymen, besides presiding at no less than 224 Annual Conferences. The highest salary that he received was $80 each year for this kind of service, which meant exposure to summer heat and winter cold, traveling alone through the frontier forests, sharing the rough fare of the pioneer's cabin, until his worn out frame was laid at last to rest. But he left behind him as one evidence of his labors 695 preachers and 214,235 members of his denomination. The vitality of the cause which he served is further revealed by recalling that the 316 with which he began has now grown to more than 8,000,000.

His problem during the Revolutionary War was that of continuing to perform his duties without undertaking to interfere in civil or military affairs. He had taken for the text of his first sermon in America these very significant words: "For I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified." When several of his associates left for England in 1775, he decided to stay. "I can by no means agree to leave such a field for gathering souls to Christ as we have in America," he writes, "there fore I am determined by the grace of God not to leave them, let the consequence be what it may." But he had no lack of loyalty to the early form of American government. When the inauguration of Washington took place April 30, 1789, the Conference being in session, Bishop Asbury moved the presentation of a congratulatory address to the new President. His suggestion was adopted, and the Bishop being one of those designated for the purpose, presenting the address in person, read it to Washington. How well he fitted into the scheme of things, this circuit rider who spent his life making stronger the foundation on which our government rests and seeking to implant in the hearts of all men, however poor and unworthy they may have seemed, an increased ability to discharge the high duties of their citizenship. His outposts marched with the pioneers, his missionaries visited the hovels of the poor so that all men might be brought to a knowledge of the truth.

A great lesson has been taught us by this holy life. It was because of what Bishop Asbury and his associates preached and what other religious organizations, through their ministry, preached, that our country has developed so much freedom and contributed so much to the civilization of the world. It is well to remember this when we are seeking for social reforms. If we can keep in mind their sources, we shall better understand their limitations.

The government of a country never gets ahead of the religion of a country. There is no way by which we can substitute the authority of law for the virtue of man. Of course we can help to restrain the vicious and furnish a fair degree of security and protection by legislation and police control, but the real reforms which society in these days is seeking will come as a result of our religious convictions, or they will not come at all. Peace, justice, humanity, charity; these cannot be legislated into being. They are the result of a Divine Grace. I have never seen the necessity for reliance upon religion rather than upon law better expressed than in a great truth uttered by Mr. Tiffany Blake, of Chicago, when he said: "Christ spent no time in the antechamber of Caesar." An act of Congress may indicate that a reform is being or has been accomplished, but it does not of itself bring about a reform.

Perhaps, too, there is a lesson in contentment in the rife of this devout man. He never had any of the luxuries of this life. Even its conveniences did not reach him, and of its absolute necessaries he had a scanty share. Without ever having the enjoyment of a real home, constantly on the move, poorly clad, often wretchedly sheltered, much of the time insufficiently nourished, yet his great spirit pressed on to the end, always toward the mark of his high calling. His recompense was not in the things of the earth. Yet who can doubt that as he beheld his handiwork, as he saw his accomplishments grow, there came to him a glorious satisfaction and a divine peace? No doubt he valued the material things of this life, and certainly they ought to be valued and valued greatly, but he regarded it as his work to put a greater emphasis on the things of the spirit. He sought to prepare men for the sure maintenance and the proper enjoyment of liberty, and for the more certain production and the better use of wealth, by inspiring them with a reverence for the moral values of life.

What a wonderful experience he must have had, this prophet of the wilderness! Who shall say where his influence, written upon the immortal souls of men, shall end? How many homes he must have hallowed! What a multitude of frontier mothers must have brought their children to him to receive his blessing! It is more than probable that Nancy Hanks, the mother of Lincoln, had heard him in her youth. Adams and Jefferson must have known him, and Jackson must have seen in him a flaming spirit as unconquerable as his own. How many temples of worship dot our landscape; how many institutions of learning, some of them rejoicing in the name of Wesleyan, all trace the inspiration of their existence to the sacrifice and service of this lone circuit rider! He is entitled to rank as one of the builders of our nation.

On the foundation of a religious civilization which he sought to build, our country has enjoyed greater blessing of liberty and prosperity than was ever before the lot of man. These cannot continue if we neglect the work which he did. We cannot depend on the government to do the work of religion. We cannot escape a personal responsibility for our own conduct. We cannot regard those as wise or safe counselors in public affairs who deny these principles and seek to support the theory that society can succeed when the individual fails.

I do not see how any one could recount the story of this early Bishop without feeling a renewed faith in our own country. He met a multitude of storms. Many of them caused him sore trials. But he never wavered. He saw wars and heard rumors of war, but whatever may have been the surface appearance, underneath it all our country manifested then and has continued to manifest a high courage, a remarkable strength of spirit and an unusual ability, in a crisis, to choose the right course. Something has continued to guide the people. No tumult has been loud enough to prevent their hearing the still small voice. No storm has been violent enough to divert inspired men from constantly carrying the word of truth. The contests of the day have but been preparations for victories on the morrow. Through it all our country has acquired an underlying power of judgment and stability of action which has never failed it. It furnishes its own answer to those who would defame it. It can afford to be oblivious to those who would detract from it. America continues its own way unchallenged and unafraid. Above all attacks and all vicissitudes it has arisen calm and triumphant; not perfect, but marching on guided in its great decisions by the same spirit which guided Francis Asbury.

 

I wonder how long it will take for the ACLU to have this monument removed from the public square.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/21/4054889/when-does-a-prayer-become-a-problem.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everson_v._Board_of_Education

http://fclem.com/2010/03/francis-asbury-statue/

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=24170