restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

                

A Revolutionary Alternative to Watching the State of the Union Address

 David Alan Black 

Tonight millions of Americans will be watching the president’s State of the Union Address on television. Yours truly will not be one of them. I simply value my time too much to waste it on politicians who pay absolutely no attention to the U.S. Constitution or to the freedoms it enshrines, thereby making sacrilege of their sacred oaths. Maybe I’m stupid (no need to agreejust a literary device, folks), but listening to the guy who just a month before his swearing-in said “If this were a dictatorship, it would be a lot easierjust as long as I’m the dictator” could be bad for my blood pressure. As an alternative, might the good professor suggest a revolutionary, yet truly American, activity for your evening entertainment?

Read the U.S. Constitution.

Yes, I said read it, not just scan or peruse it. Study it even. Naturally, the Powers That Be prefer that you don’t. That’s because the Constitution might just as well have been written in Chinese Pig Latin for all they understand it—or follow it. But We the People have no right to be ignorant. Ignorance is too costly.

The Constitution is of critical importance to all Americans. It is to be understood and it is to be followed. It is not a minor matter; it has never been a minor matter. Our Founding Fathers rebelled against tyranny because they saw mere men usurping the unalienable rights given to them by God. They risked everything they had to take that stand—their livelihoods, their families, their sacred honor. As the years have gone by, we Americans have become comfortable with big government. We say, “It’s the job of government to take care of my needs and to pay for my retirement, my prescription drugs, my medical bills, etc.” But big government is not in the founding documents of the nation. It’s just not there. It’s impossible to support what Congress is doing with our tax dollars (such as funding abortion through Planned Parenthood, or supporting godless art through the NEA, etc.). It’s impossible to support these things from the Constitution or, for that matter, from the Bible.

Our country was birthed in the conflict between the rule of law and the rule of man. Our Founders appealed to the fixed law of God to challenge King George’s arbitrary rule, “appealing to the supreme Judge of the World for the rectitude of our intentions.” Understanding that there is no Savior but God, and no King but Jesus, is the key to understanding why we must reject big government and its messianic claims. The basic problem in Washington DC is that our federal Constitution is a dead letter to our politicians. Both Democrats and Republicans ask, “Who’s going to control Big Brother?” instead of asking (as they should), “How can we get rid of Big Brother?” The only real difference between liberals and conservatives is that they tend to devise different plans on what to do with the power of the federal government. That’s why Republicans have failed to prevent the growth of the federal budget in recent years. They aren’t even faintly interested in controlling the expansion of the federal government. This problem didn’t start with George W. Bush, and it won’t end with him either.

Neither liberal nor conservative politicians are willing to get to the heart of the issue—the question of the legitimate use of government power. As a result, our politicians produce their plans and programs without ever being challenged on the immoral and unethical means they use.

As long as Americans remain intent on ignoring the bedrock document of American political history, pastor Chuck Baldwin’s words will ring true: Patriotism is more than waving a flag and beating war drums. Patriotism involves reverence and submission to the laws and principles contained in our Constitution and in our heritage. It does not mean blindly following a politician—any politician! Patriotism also demands that the American people hold their elected leaders accountable to the Constitution.”

Well, students, I hope you enjoy tonight’s reading assignment. Read it well; some day you just might be prevented from doing sonot by crazed foreign terrorists, but by our own ruling elites.

January 20, 2004

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.

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