Long
Live King George
Beginning
with “the shot heard ‘round the world” at Lexington, Massachusetts in 1775, the
American Revolution began. A Baptist Preacher John Leland insisted that “freedom of religion” be guaranteed or he would not support the cause.
Thomas Jefferson agreed and saw to it by adding the First Amendment. The
revolution pitted freedom vs. tyranny, liberty vs. King George’s oppression. For
whatever you think of the American Revolution, the outcome of that conflict guaranteed
Americans their God-given freedom “with liberty and justice for all,” for at
least a while. Just a few short years later, coming out of the Constitutional
Convention in 1789, Benjamin Franklin was asked by a bystander, ”Sir, what have
you given us?” His answer:
“A republic ma'am, if you can keep it."
By Jerry
Gentry
A republic. “If you
can keep it.”
Back then a republican form of government was equated with
freedom and liberty and all that is good, ideas believed by and central to most
if not all of the puritan church not to exclude the Baptists and many Episcopals.
Even so, only about 40-45% of the populace supported the revolution, leaving
some 15-20% loyal to King George, and the remainder neutral or uncertain. The
Patriots saw loyalty as mutual, and when it became clear the King George would
treat the colonials more as slaves than loyal subjects, free men did what free
men always do, as expressed by Patrick Henry in a speech he gave in 1775: “Give
me liberty or give me death.” Now would the Patriots have the resolve and
strength to bring it off? That was the question.
One hundred fifty years
earlier around 1620, churchmen arriving on the Mayflower at Plymouth,
Massachusetts signed a Compact, which formed the original National Covenant:
“Having
undertaken, for the Glory of God, and
advancements of the Christian faith [Emphasis mine] and honor of our King
and . . . in the presence of God,
and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together . . . “
It was clear that America
was to be free and Christian, with clear restraints on government, as Thomas
Jefferson so aptly declared: “In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but
bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.”
After winning that war,
America stood unique on the world’s scene, a shining beacon of liberty piercing
into a dark world. Great blessings accrued. She had achieved what no other had
achieved in all the annals of history. At a time when France was in revolt for
something entirely different, America was born from the ideas of freedom and
liberty of the common man. Even King George, when he refused to obey the laws
of God in the Bible, would not be tolerated. The divine right of kings found no
foothold in American soil. Years later in 1831, a Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, sought
to find the reason for America’s greatness. The
following quote is attributed to de Tocqueville:
“I
sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and
her ample rivers — and it was not there … in her fertile fields and
boundless forests — and it was not there … in her rich mines and her vast
world commerce — and it was not there … in her democratic Congress and
her matchless Constitution — and it was not there. Not until I went into
the churches of America and heard her
pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be
good, America will cease to be great.” (Emphasis ours).
The
idea that “America is great because America is good” is long lost to most
Americans today. Most of us have never thought about our republic as something good,
and something we must keep. And we have
thought less about how we must keep it. The very statement implies there are active
tyrannical forces, whether King George or others, out to take our republic and
our freedoms away. But of course, that was way back then and has little to do
with life today, right? And it has even less to do with the church of God,
right? Sorry, friend, think again. The loss of our republic with its God-given constitutional
guarantees to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” has everything to
do with you, and with the church of God of whatever brand or doctrinal
persuasion.
Benjamin
Franklin warned that same Constitutional Convention in 1789 that unless certain
people were banned from our shores, in 200 years we would have a different form
of government and our children would be their slaves. Now preachers hail these
very people Franklin warned against to be “god’s chosen people,” never mind
that one of their own historians found they “are
more closely related to the Hun, Uigur and Magyar tribes than to the seed of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." (The Thirteenth Tribe, Arthur Koestler, Random
House, Inc., NY, 1976, p. 17). It’s an irony deeply entrenched in the American tradition.
Today these people are huddled together in the big New York banking houses,
investment and securities firms and especially a foreign power known as the
International Monetary Fund and World Bank created in 1944 by the Bretton Woods
agreement. Today that element of legalized tyranny easily recognized by the
framers of our constitution in King George is to be found amongst these forces
Ben Franklin warned against.
Did
Ben Franklin’s prophecy come true? To answer, look around you. What can you do
these days by constitutional right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness” alone? Things once rights under the constitution have long since
been converted. They are no longer rights. They are now privileges, secured by the
many licenses, fees and taxes we pay. Try to build a house in America, and see
how far you get without a “building permit.” Drive down the highway these days
under constitutionally protected “right to travel” and see how far you can get
without a “driver’s license.” Just live in your house and see who really owns
it, when you get your “property tax” bill. Put in a “day’s work for a day’s
wage” and see how much of that increase you get to keep, after the tax man
finds you. Form a church and find out quickly that you must apply for 501(C) 3 status.
Go
to court and try to find a judge who will hear your constitutional arguments.
You will be found in contempt and put into jail! Yes, I witnessed no less recently
while attending the Patton’s’ (Tim and Dawn) trial for income tax evasion. Upon
Dawn’s testimony stating, “I am free” the judge called for the bailiff to lock
her up. Only when she qualified her testimony did the judge back off
temporarily. That judge repeatedly trampled Tim and Dawn’s rights to due
process, over and over, with impunity. I along with others filed affidavits of judicial
misconduct, which were received and acknowledged by the supervising court. We
were later notified that the judge retired the day after sentencing Tim and
Dawn, and no disciplinary action would be taken due to his retirement. So the treasonous
“judge” still gets his $50,000 merit pay bonus for the conviction, forget Tim
and Dawn’s constitutional right to due process and to their labor and the enjoyment
of the benefits thereof. Yes, tyranny is alive and well in America. The
constitutional chains Thomas Jefferson demanded no longer bind judges.
We
all know there are serious problems in America. Freedom and liberty are not
what they used to be. Our “free country” is not so free any more. What has
happened? Where have all our freedoms gone? What happened to our
constitutionally guaranteed “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?” We
are told there is a war on terror, and by the standards of the Patriot Act,
Christians can easily be redefined as terrorists. I am wondering who are the real terrorists? Could they mostly be
living in Washington D. C. and working for our own government? No doubt it is
true. But what must we do about it?
Sad to say, I believe the
answer is found in Walt Kelly’s old Pogo cartoon quotation: "We
have met the enemy and he is us." We as a nation have broken our National
Covenant with God. No longer are we a Christian nation. We have adopted public
policies in opposition the laws of God (10 Commandments). Thereby we have
secured our own demise.
The
reason why we have lost our liberties in America is because we have sinned
against our God, and He has taken it upon himself to take away our liberties. We
have all read Lev 26 and Deut 28, the blessings and cursings chapters. Take the
national debt, for example. How will the tyrannical forces deal with our $15
trillion in national debt, which the Bible forbids? I believe they must create
a new one world “funny money” soon, maybe the Amero, maybe something else. We
watched the news and saw Gadhafi’s efforts to establish the gold standard for
Africa die. Did his own people murder him, or did somebody else who had just days earlier set up a new central bank in Tripoli, based not
on oil or gold, but on credit, murder him? Maybe we will never know.
Look for a new manufactured financial crisis soon,
something bigger than the twin towers take down, something bigger than the
failure of a Wall Street bank. Then you can kiss the dollar good bye, and any
paper assets you hold. Proof? When the former USSR disbanded around 1988, the
credit banks all over Russia zeroed out all personal bank accounts. Apparently
they knew long ago what Obama’s former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said November 21,
2008: “You never want a serious crisis
to go to waste.” Did Emanuel learn this idea from the ruling oligarchy of
Russia?
My
father in law lost his life savings overnight in that Russian crisis around
1988. The conditions are ripe now for a similar transfer of wealth right here
in the land of the free and home of the brave. Many financial advisers warn of it. Nobody
wants to hear that we have lost our liberties because of our own national sins.
The sins of a society assure its demise. Look at Ancient Israel, Rome, Greece,
etc. As a society slides down the slippery slope of national sin (read, 100
million abortions, legalization of sodomy, unjust weights and measures, i.e.,
FRN funny money, $15 trillion national debt, etc.), it ultimately drowns in
it’s own sea of excess. America has just about run out of steam. But it’s not
too late for individuals to do something. But do what?
My
Gentry ancestors from Illinois once hired Abe Lincoln to chop wood when he was
young. Did they also take their duties seriously to keep the republic? I have wondered, “what is the difference between
one tyrant 3000 miles away and 3000 tyrants one mile away?” a line borrowed
from Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson, in The
Patriot). Whether King George or a newly elected legislature, the framers
knew the dangers of government run amuck. They knew that the liberty they secured by the grace of God and musket, cannon
and sword in their day had to be renewed and refreshed in every generation, or
generations to come would descend right back under some new tyrannical form of
government. Today those tyrannical powers in America are concentrated among the
forces Ben Franklin warned against. And certainly they are on a leash. They can
do nothing that the God of the universe does not permit.
What
must we do about it?
I
believe the answer is to be found in the quote above, attributed to de Tocqueville:
“America is great because she is good, and if America ever
ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
America
is no longer good by any rational definition. Thus we have our answer, the
reason for America’s national decline and ultimate demise to come. Therefore
America is no longer great. America as we know it may soon cease to exist, a
great experiment gone bad through breaking of the National Covenant which has
given rise to the rebirth of tyranny.
By
our own national sins, we have made God our enemy, and He is now judging
America. Every individual should, no must, return to God in true repentance,
just as did Ezra and Daniel and others down through church history. The weight
of unconfessed national and personal sin is a crushing burden we can no longer
carry. At a time of little hope for turning the nation around and restoring the
National Covenant, there is hope for individuals who can now turn back to God
in personal covenant with all our hearts.
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