Introduction
Never
has the world seen a nation as great as the United States of America.
The nation has been home to numerous inventors and inventions that
greatly increased the standard of living for the citizens of nation
and the world. No longer do America's citizens spend most of their
time working just to put food on the table. Salaries are spent on
incredible electronic items, entertainment, amazing travel
opportunities, or healthcare treatments that were unavailable to even
the richest people on earth in previous centuries. America's poor
often live better than the middle classes of other nations. The
prosperity is the result of freedom for the citizens. Freedom is the
secret to America's greatness and success.
The
source of this freedom can be found in the two works that most shaped
America: The Bible and The US Constitution. America's founders
followed the God of the Bible and adhered to biblical teaching. They
used many biblical principles in founding the nation and drafting its
Constitution. As long as their principles are followed, America will
continue to be successful. Look at the similarities between the
Bible and the Constitution:
Both
recognize an Almighty God who created the universe.
Both
prescribe liberty and freedom for the people.
Both
call for a small central (national) government, with as many issues
as possible being settled at the local level.
Both
recognize the societal need for a moral people that will help each
other when in need while being willing to work to support
themselves.
America's
founders grasped one of the key biblical tenets – God-given free
will. God made humans free to do whatever they desire.
Unfortunately this results in both good and evil. This includes the
choice to follow and worship God (or not), to love your neighbor (or
not), and to respect your neighbors property (or not). These
God-given freedoms can be taken away, for example when one man steals
from, or murders another. The founders realized that the role of
government was to prevent these types of infringements. To protect
the God-given freedoms for all citizens. The freedom to pursue life,
liberty, and happiness any way the citizen desires, as long as he
does not interfere with another's freedom to do the same. When
people have freedom, and are secure knowing that their lives and
property are both protected, they will thrive. The result is the
greatest nation the world has ever seen.
The
founders distinguished between their faith and their government.
America has never been a theocracy, a government with an official
religion. This would take away freedom of the citizens to choose
their religion and how they worshiped God. Both the Constitution and
Bible should play important roles in society, but those roles differ.
Societal
Roles for the Constitution and Bible
The
Bible, being dictated by God, has shaped all humanity more than any
other work. For a follower of God, the Bible is the guide for life
and trumps all other ideologies. It forms the cornerstone of the
Christian and Jewish (Old Testament) religions. The Bible explains
how the Earth and man came to exist (created by God) and provides a
narrative of human history from its inception. It details the plan
God followed to redeem humanity from sin by sending a Savior. This
is the main purpose of the Bible. Jesus rose from the dead in order
to offer salvation to all mankind. People have free will to believe
this miracle happened, or not believe it. Same with the other
miracles described in the Bible.
Sidebar:
Humans are free to dismiss the early chapters of Genesis, but in
doing so they eliminate the reason for the rest of the Bible.
Without the beginning of the story, the end won't make sense. There
is no reason or need for Abraham, God's nation of ancient Israel, or
even Christ, the Savior, if the first part of Genesis is removed.
The
Bible shows God's Will for how humans should live (Love God...; Love
your neighbor...). It is a governing document for the individuals,
churches or other organizations who choose to follow it. God does
not force humans to follow His desires as spelled out in the Bible.
Nor should Christians try to force others to follow. It violates
free will. Use of force is a key theme throughout this book.
Anytime a person is forced to do something, their freedom is
restricted. The Constitution was written to limit the use of force
by the federal government.
The
US Constitution follows many of the suggestions the Bible offers for
society. Not surprising, since its authors were students of the
Bible and knew it well.
From the Pilgrims to the Founders, the Bible played an enormous role
in American society. The Founders attempted to form a society where
the government would use force only to protect the God-given rights
of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
The
Constitution is the governing document for the federal government.
It is the rulebook the government must follow. The Founders were
each representatives of one of the original thirteen colonies that
won independence from England. State representatives wrote the
Constitution, and the states ratified it to make it the governing
document of the land. Today, it is sometimes glossed over that our
nation is the United States of America. The states united to
form a nation because they considered it beneficial to do so. They
ceded certain powers to the federal government and kept others for
themselves. New states pledged to uphold the Constitution upon being
granted statehood. Elected representatives in the federal government
swear to uphold the Constitution as do members of the military. The
US Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
America
has undergone a silent political revolution over the last 80 years.
During this time the federal government
began to ignore key components of the Constitution (and the Bible).
The revolution has dramatically changed the country
and removed a large degree of freedom from citizens. America now
needs a peaceful counter-revolution, or reformation, to return to
founding principles.
Reformation
of Government
It
is human nature for good worthy organizations to become corrupt over
time and veer away from their intended purpose. The Bible presents
numerous examples of the kings of Israel moving away from the
government God desired - and a few kings who repented and returned
to governing according to God's plan. The Christian Church became
corrupted by non-biblical teachings over time. A number of leaders
(Luther, Calvin, Tyndale and many others) stepped forward to reform
the church, and return it to a foundation of God's true teachings.
The US Government now needs a similar reformation. It has abandoned
many of the core principles of the Constitution – the rules it is
supposed to govern by.
Foundational
freedoms were built into the Constitution. They are best captured in
the Bill of Rights. The first of which is freedom of religion and
the press. This prevents the federal government from interfering in
citizen's lives. The federal government has no more right to ban
prayer at a public event, than it has the right to ban a newspaper or
TV channel from the public. Prayer and other decisions are left up
to the organizers of the event's itinerary. One person being
offended by prayer is no different than one person being offended by
the content of a media organization. The government simply cannot
ban either.
Once
the government ignores or violates one freedom, it becomes much
easier to ignore others. Freedom of religion, freedom to own guns
(bear arms), and freedom to conduct business as one desires
(commerce) are the freedoms most often targeted for abuse. But if
these can be abused, why not the right to a jury trial, or the right
to not have police invade your home without a court warrant? The
ignoring of one right can quickly lead to the ignoring of multiple
rights. The metaphorical slippery slope.
States
have lost the freedom to govern as they wish within the boundaries of
the Constitution. Today's federal government tramples all over
states. They collect much more money (40% maximum tax rate vs 13%
top state tax rate) than the states. They use this money to manage
areas that should be the domain of the states: Education, great
quantities of land, housing programs, food programs, agriculture
programs, and energy programs. The list goes on and on. These
programs all have copious regulations that citizens and states must
follow.
What
difference does it make if the federal government runs these programs
instead of states? First, it is a violation of the Constitution.
Second, the federal government is notoriously inefficient and
wasteful. Thirdly, and most importantly, not all citizens want every
aspect of their lives regulated and controlled by government. If
states perform the bulk of the government duties, citizens can chose
the state government that best suites them. This freedom is
especially needed in present times where the nation is deeply
divided.
America
Overcoming Crises
America
did not become a great nation by chance. People fought to create the
nation and to keep it strong. Several specific national crises
greatly altered the course of the nation. Every time pro-freedom
forces prevailed.
The
Revolutionary War determined whether America would become an
independent nation of liberty or a vassal colony to England.
The
Civil War decided whether America would continue to exist as a
single nation. It also finally abolished slavery, liberating an
entire class of people.
During
World War II, America defeated two authoritarian imperialist
nations, Germany and Japan. These nations had both initiated wars
of conquest before declaring war on America. The victory cemented
America's position as a world power, a pro-freedom power.
The
book, The Fourth Turning,
notes these crises happened approximately 80 years apart. It also
predicts America will undergo a new crisis as it approaches the next
80 year mark. The next crisis will almost certainly involve the
size, scope and power of the federal government. The federal
government has assumed powers well beyond that authorized by the
Constitutional, with the result of reduced freedom for its citizens.
Both economic and religious freedom have been harmed.
In
the case of the Civil War, the crisis resulted from unresolved issues
from an earlier crisis. After the Revolution, the dominant objective
became forming a national government from the thirteen independent
colonies. A number of founders wanted to abolish slavery in the
Constitution, but sadly some states rejected this. The issue of
slavery was left to simmer until it erupted into the Civil War.
Likewise
the Great Depression just before World War II sowed the seeds for the
next crisis. The economic distress during the Depression (arguably
extended in America by government), led to a series of federal
government programs to “fix” the economy. These programs were
the first major attempt by the federal government to manage the
free-market economy, and were not constitutional. The federal
government attempted to dictate how much of certain items citizens
could produce, regulate wages, and “stimulate” the economy with
government spending. Of course, the government had to greatly
increase taxes to pay for these programs and the bureaucratic
administrators.
The
level of federal government intrusiveness dropped significantly at
the close of the War, but then resumed an increasing trend-line
toward greater and greater control and intrusion. One can see the
next crisis brewing as Americans attempt to regain their freedoms
from an usurping federal government. This will hopefully be a
peaceful political battle, as opposed to the other crises which
became wars.
Look
what is transpiring: Ranchers in western states oppose the federal
government controlling land that belongs to their state. Tea Party
movements, word-playing on the Boston Tea Party, have begun to rally
against big-government. The IRS targets political groups it does not
like. Libertarians have become angry and distressed at the
government monitoring their phones and social media websites.
Churches are finding it difficult to follow their religious beliefs
with respect to abortion, as an increasingly secular federal
government tries to force them to accept the practice. The federal
government struggles to keep the multitude of promises it has made to
citizens. As more and more citizens cease working and begin
collecting benefits, the government will run low on funds.
America
is increasingly dominated by two opposing belief systems. One system
wants the government to provide jobs, healthcare, food and housing to
the citizens. It also dictates how people live, what kind of cars
can be driven, what kind of energy can be produced, how land can be
used, and even the types of lightbulbs that can be bought. It also
believes it “owns” the incomes of citizens and can take as much
as it wants or needs. The other belief system wants the government
to leave citizens alone to live their lives. The government should be
used only to protect the nation and citizens from being attacked.
These belief systems are not compatible with each other. A crisis is
bound to occur as these systems clash.
This
crisis will go to the very heart of what America is. What laws, if
any will be followed, and who will follow them. What does
law-following have to do with it? As was stated earlier, the
Constitution is the supreme law of the nation. If its provisions are
not followed, why should any law be followed?
What if citizens decide to arbitrarily ignore laws they do not agree
with like tax law? The nation cannot survive if citizens in-mass
suddenly stop complying with tax law and paying their taxes. Anarchy
will ensue. A strong nation needs fair laws that are willingly
followed by the citizens.
A
Constitutional Federal Government: Averting the Crisis for a Divided
Nation
The
way to avert this crisis is right in front of the nation. It is
called the US Constitution. The Constitution gives each state the
latitude to follow the belief system their citizens desire. Whether
it be the big-government liberal belief, or the limited government
conservative belief, or some new way yet to be tried.
There
is no longer any need for conservatives and liberals to have endless
back and forth arguments on which government policies are best for
the economy: high or low tax rates; heavy or light regulation;
business subsidies or no subsidies; welfare or workfare. States will
be able to design government policy on each of these areas that best
suit their citizens. It will be apparently easy to see which
policies work best from examining the results in the states. It is
entirely possible that different Americans will prefer different
policies and consider theirs “more successful”. Americans will
have the freedom to vote with their feet and move to states having
policies they prefer. Using the Constitution, and its
state-centric approach, the arguments change. For example:
Does
high government taxation and spending/investment drive economic
growth and prosperity? Becomes: Is it beneficial for my state to
tax and invest in this business?
Which
energy sources (solar, wind, nuclear, oil, coal...) are best for
both present and future needs? Becomes: Will my state be better
off pushing one type of energy over another?
Should
abortion be legal? Becomes: Should the citizens of a state make
abortion legal?
Should
the government provide healthcare?
Becomes:
Should the citizens of my state provide healthcare for its
citizens.
Is
it wise to legalize marijuana? Becomes: Is it wise for a state to
legalize marijuana in that state?
The
answer is likely to vary state by state.
In each of these areas, the Constitution places the governmental
responsibility at the state or local level. Chapter 20 lays out a
plan to more permanently return the federal government to its
original limited role in America, by following the Constitution.
Briefly, the federal government is prevented from performing many
functions is does today if the 10th
Amendment is followed. Move these functions down the government
responsibility chain to the states.
This
solution will require a massive transfer of authority, power, and
resources from the federal government to the state governments. If
the nation acts soon, there can be a several year period where those
responsibilities, agencies and programs can be transferred, including
initial funding, in an orderly manner. At present there is ample
revenue for the federal government to help states during the
transition. This may not be the case if the nation continues on its
current course for too much longer.
This
book is also an excellent reference book. It captures key teachings
of the Bible and Constitution on a number of issues, beginning with
the next chapter on free will. Chapter 3 examines creation and
evolution. Chapter 4 explores the biblical view of death as a
punishment from God. Chapter 5 contrasts the biblical holy war in
the book of Joshua with jihad. The next 4 chapters review covenants
between God and man, the poor, and taxes. Chapters 10 and 11 review
America's religious heritage and religion in schools. The next two
chapters focus on the Constitution and freedom of religion. Chapter
14 shows how Presidents and US Senators are responsible for the
courts straying from the Constitution. The next 4 chapters cover the
issues of abortion, homosexuality, slavery, and immigration.
Chapters 19 and 20 go into detail on the financial crisis being
caused by the federal government and the solution. Chapters 21 and
22 give special attention to healthcare and Social Security. Chapter
23 documents news bias in the media and its affect on elections.
Chapter 24 explores the hostility of the Democrat party to Christians
who follow the Bible. Chapter 25 details a voting strategy to return
the nation to its constitutional foundation.
