Shedding Light on the 1st Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there of; abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people to peacefully assemble, and to petition the government for the right of redress of grievances.

Our Founder’s never intended that the Ten Commandments, prayer, Holy Scripture study, Christian holidays, study and/or practice of Christianity be removed from our American culture!

Just the opposite is true! Our Founder’s wanted freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. They wanted all sound religions, promoted throughout our great Republic and shared throughout the world! However, they did not want one religion to rule America, as the Church of England did during the reign of King George III.

Here’s what Thomas Jefferson (known as the Father of the Declaration of Independence) said in brief about separation of church and state. He wrote in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association dated January 1, 1802 explaining his position saying the constitution had created “a wall of separation between church and state.”

As studied in historical context, never did Jefferson nor any other of the founder’s wanted to see any sound religion attacked or excluded from our culture. Nor, should the federal government give preferential treatment to one religion over another.

They wanted ALL religions to be encouraged to promote their moral fiber and religious tone of the people. It was in the best interest of the government and the nation to promote religious values for the moral stability needed for “good government and the happiness of mankind.”

In Thomas Jefferson’s second inaugural address, he virtually signaled the states to press forward in settling their religious issues, since it was within their jurisdiction and not the Federal Government.

The Founder’s had no objection to using public buildings for religious purposes; that was even to be encouraged. The only question was whether or not the facilities could be used EQUALLY to all denominations desiring them.

The United States Capitol has a very rich spiritual heritage and was used for religious services of all faiths in which Thomas Jefferson and other Founder’s attended for many years; even to this day, a room in the capitol that is closed to the public, is used for religious services for members of congress. Throughout the building are large beautiful paintings depicting America’s Christian Heritage. Remembering America’s Motto is engraved on the front of the Capitol building “IN GOD WE TRUST.” The United States Congress printed the first Holy Bibles in America and distributed them thought-out the nation for the good and well being of all Americans.

The large engravings on the front of the United States Supreme Court building are depicting Moses and the Ten Commandments. Keep in mind our Founder’s wanted the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution “strictly” as written in the ORIGINAL Constitution. They never wanted it changed easily by the whims of man, such has happened with the power seeking 16^th and 17^th amendments etc. They didn’t want an “elastic or flexible” Constitution to fit the times. They knew their inspiration came from God and those principles were eternal and unchanging. Our Founders wanted “constitutional supremacy”, as the law of the land, not “judicial supremacy”. Thomas Jefferson said, “Let not the Constitution become a blank piece of paper.”

Freedom of Speech and of the Press

This provision gave the American people the RIGHT to have the Federal Government prohibited from exercising any legal authority over freedom of speech or freedom of the press. The government has no right to dictate what is “politically correct” or not.

This does not mean that those freedoms are absolute. For example, it is not permissible for freedom of speech to slander or libel another person. It would be unlawful to cry “fire” in a crowded auditorium or theater as a practical joke and thereby cause a panic. Freedom of the press has been a difficult right to protect.

The freedom to peacefully assemble and to petition the government for redress of grievances shall not be abridged.

This provision guarantees the people the RIGHT to be able to petition the government without intervention or prohibition by the authorities.

THE CONSTITUTION WAS WRITTEN TO CONTROL GOVERNMENT, NOT TO CONTROL A RIGHTEOUS PEOPLE.

A note about The Declaration of Independence

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal (not equal in owning things, not equal in talents or living circumstances; but equal in the sight of God, equal under the Bar of Justice, equal under the “Laws of Nature and of Natures God” and equal in their rights under the Constitution). That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights (rights given by God, not the government that cannot be taken away) That among these rights are Life (including the rights of the innocent unborn), Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness (the right to own property, marry whom we want, work where we want, live where we want etc.). That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed …”

The original inspired Constitution provided for only 20 enumerated powers to the federal government, plus it called for a gold and silver standard of true weights and measures, controlled by Congress; not controlled by private bankers.

The Declaration of Independence said in part: “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent forth swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their existence.”

Written By Fred R Willoughby

Ronald Reagan Fought Against Obamacare 50 Years Before It Became Law

While still a Hollywood man, Ronald Reagan took to the radio airwaves to speak out against a national health care bill, then referred to as the Ferrand Bill and later the King Bill. Although 50 years ahead of his time, Reagan's impassioned address warned that such a bill would not only bring an erosion of private rights and individual freedoms but would also give socialism and statism a "foot in the door."

In his memorable peroration, Reagan calls citizens to direct and immediate action. It's a call as timely today as it was 50 years ago. Otherwise, says Reagan, "One of these days you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children, and our children's children, what it once was like in America when men were free."

Radio Address on Socialized Medicine, 1961:

My name is Ronald Reagan. I have been asked to talk on several subjects that have to do with the problems of the day. ...

Back in 1927, an American socialist, Norman Thomas, six times candidate for president on the Socialist Party ticket, said the American people would never vote for socialism. But he said under the name of liberalism the American people will adopt every fragment of the socialist program. ...

One of the traditional methods of imposing statism or socialism on a people has been by way of medicine. It's very easy to disguise a medical program as a humanitarian project. Most people are a little reluctant to oppose anything that suggests medical care for people who possibly can’t afford it.

Now, the American people, if you put it to them about socialized medicine and gave them a chance to choose, would unhesitatingly vote against it. We had an example of this. Under the Truman administration, it was proposed that we have a compulsory health insurance program for all people in the United States, and, of course, the American people unhesitatingly rejected this.

So, with the American people on record as not wanting socialized medicine, Congressman Ferrand introduced the Ferrand Bill. This was the idea that all people of Social Security age should be brought under a program of compulsory health insurance. Now this would not only be our senior citizens, this would be the dependents and those who are disabled, this would be young people if they are dependents of someone eligible for Social Security.

Now, Congressman Ferrand brought the program out on that idea of just for that group of people. But Congressman Ferrand was subscribing to this foot-in-the-door philosophy, because, he said, "[I]f we can only break through and get our foot inside the door, then we can expand the program after that."

Walter Ruther said, "It's no secret that the United Automobile Workers is officially on record as backing a program of national health insurance.” And by national health insurance, he meant socialized medicine for every American. Well, let's see what the socialists themselves have to say about it.

They say, "Once the Ferrand Bill is passed, this nation will be provided with a mechanism for socialized medicine capable of indefinite expansion in every direction until it includes the entire population.” Well, we can’t say we haven’t been warned. ...

It is presented in the idea of a great emergency that millions of our senior citizens are unable to provide needed medical care. But this ignores the fact that, in the last decade, 127 million of our citizens in just 10 years have come under the protection of some form of privately owned medical or hospital insurance.

Now the advocates of this bill, when you try to oppose it, challenge you on an emotional basis. They say, "What would you do, throw these poor old people out to die with no medical attention?" That's ridiculous, and of course no one's advocated it. ...

What reason could the other people have for backing a bill which says, "We insist on compulsory health insurance for senior citizens on the basis of age alone, regardless of whether they're worth millions of dollars, whether they have an income, whether they're protected by their own insurance, whether they have savings?"

I think we can be excused for believing that, as ex-Congressman Ferrand said, this was simply an excuse to bring about what they wanted all the time -- socialized medicine.

James Madison in 1788, speaking to the Virginia Convention, said: "Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpations."

The privacy, the care that is given to a person, the right to chose a doctor, the right to go from one doctor to the other ... this is a freedom that I wonder whether any of us have the right to take from any human being. ... From here it is a short step to all the rest of socialism. ...

The Founding Fathers -- for the first time -- established the idea that you and I had within ourselves the God-given right and ability to determine our own destiny. ...

What can we do about this? Well, you and I can do a great deal. We can write to our congressmen and our senators. We can say right now that we want no further encroachment on these individual liberties and freedoms. And at the moment, the key issue is we do not want socialized medicine. ...

Write those letters now; call your friends and tell them to write them. If you don't, this program I promise you will pass just as surely as the sun will come up tomorrow, and behind it will come other federal programs that will invade every area of freedom as we have known it in this country until one day, as Normal Thomas said, we will awake to find that we have socialism. And if you don’t do this, and if I don’t do it, one of these days you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children, and our children's children, what it once was like in America when men were free.