Sep. 5, 2009 - Laborers, Democrats, Republicans and Patriots: Remember the Republic!

Most textbooks (including many, if not most, used by homeschoolers) teach students that America is a democracy. However, our founding documents, including the Declaration of Independence, establish a Constitutional Republic, based on immutable principles (yes, from the Bible) that are not subject to the whims of democracy.

Why does it matter? In a simple democracy, the majority—not the law--will rule in all matters. That may work for awhile, if the majority of the people are just. However, in a simple democracy, if the majority of the people vote for tyranny and evil--say, eliminating a weaker part of society--then that evil becomes the law. History is a teacher; the French Revolution and Madame Guillotine aptly illustrate the extreme tyranny of the majority.

We can debate semantics until the cows come home (or the chickens roost!)—definitions may vary. The point is that the key to America’s greatness has always been the origin and author of our rights--The Author of our rights--given by God.

AWR Hawkins notes”Our Founders saw the dangers that democracy posed for our great experiment in freedom and risked “[their] Lives, [their] Fortunes, and [their] sacred Honor” to create a republic instead. It is to honor them and preserve our own liberty that we don’t just pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States, but also to “the republic for which it stands.” (Read the enlightening comments and discussion along with the article.)

In our Democratic Republic, our government of the people is restrained by laws, based upon the idea that we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights--life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. Note the right is "pursuit of happiness," not a guarantee of happiness.

These rights emphatically cannot be given or taken away--they belong to all, for all time. This is the uniqueness of America. This is the Christian concept that makes America a "shining city on a hill" and the envy of the world. This envy causes other nations to either malign (or sometimes kill) or emulate us.

Of course America is inhabited by corrupt and wicked people, just like everywhere else in the world. Sometimes we have even elected those evils into our government and enacted unconstitutional laws, especially as we have forgotten our Creator and the Author of our rights. We have forgotten that all men are CREATED equal.

We have our share of horrors, such as slavery and ill treated workers over the centuries. However, as long as Americans remember that we are a Constitutional Republic (democracy limited by the rule of law), our God-given rights give hope to downtrodden people everywhere. True republicanism--all are Created equal, one nation, under God--eliminated slavery and brings equal justice to workers and business owners alike.

Yes, our Republic stands, a shining example, not perfect, but the closest example of God-given government on earth, as long as we remember that our Rights are from God, not from men. What God has given can not be taken away, as long as we remember.

As Patriots Day follows Labor Day, remember the Republic.

Sep. 14, 2009 - Untitled Comment

Sep. 15, 2009 - We Have Forgottten God