restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

                

Could 2004 Be the Year of the Constitution?

 David Alan Black 

No doubt about it. We’re bogged down. I’m talking about those of us who are fighting to restore America to its original republican form of government. There are, to be sure, some positive signs that we are making progress. Just the fact that there are so many organizations devoted to constitutional liberty is encouraging. Here I am talking mainly about the Constitution Party, the “We the People” organization, the America First Party, the Southern Party, and other like-minded groups.

However, the very fact that there are so many constitutionally-oriented organizations is problematic when the result is a fragmentizing of the movement. The truth is that we are succumbing to centrifugal force. We are going our separate ways—not intentionally, perhaps, but merely in the absence of an overriding, unifying vision—in the absence of a centripetal force.

Can’t we agree to make the U.S. Constitution that unifying force? After all, adherence to its values is foundational to everything we do. The need for such a unifying force seems clear to me in light of the following facts:

1. The Republican Party is no help to our cause. As Pat Buchanan pointed out in The Death of the West, the Republicans have abandoned the constitutional and moral terrain. Only a fool would believe that Bush II and Company are interested in bringing us back to the faith of our Fathers. Bush campaigned on a platform of inclusion and pluralism, even pledging that a potential cabinet member’s or judicial nominee’s views on abortion would be irrelevant. While so-called conservatives may find this palatable, such inclusiveness is abhorrent to strict constitutionalists.

2. The Southern independence movement is slowly losing steam. Now please don’t get me wrong. I am a staunch promoter of traditional Southern culture and a long time Confederate reenactor. I am actively involved in speaking at SCV camps and at monument dedications. Heritage is my bailiwick. Having said this, however, I agree with Jeff Adams that the Southern Movement has reached a plateau, and that for it to gain any future ground it needs “an extra boost.” Adams observes: “LOS [League of the South] and SP [Southern Party] actions should be based on ideals that are found in the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the C.S. Constitution, the writings of our forefathers, the roots of our culture, and our religious foundations.” I couldn’t agree more. And if you needed to reduce those ideals to just one document, I would suggest that it be the most basic one of all—the U.S. Constitution. The Declaration and Constitution are not Southern documents per se. Of course, we need not minimize the involvement of Southern patriots in establishing the foundational documents of our nation, but there is also no need to elevate that involvement above the documents themselves. The Declaration is an American document; and so is the Constitution. They are writings that all Americans, Northerners and Southerners alike, can support and defend. Moreover, it is not just Northern liberals who have sold their souls to the New World Order. Whether we in the South like to admit it or not, the majority of Southerners—and I’m speaking not only of urbanites but also of those who live in rural communities—have been brainwashed by the liberal elites who control our Southern institutions, including our universities, the public school system, and the media. We can’t expect people who are engrossed in the corrupt culture of Hollywood to embrace our cause unless they are made to see the viability of our message.

3. Neither is the solution to be found in the “conservative” movement. Chuck Baldwin is correct when he writes in his essay “I Am No Longer A Conservative” that “... rank and file conservatives seem more than willing to accept an increase of socialism, internationalism, and liberalism as long as Republicans are overseeing it. Conservatives seem totally oblivious to the ominous direction of the country when Republicans are in charge. As a result, conservatives and liberals, Democrats and Republicans, are working together to take America further and further down the road of socialism.” In other words, both liberals and conservatives are taking America over the same cliff; it’s just that it will take us a little longer to go over the precipice with conservatives in power.

4. Left-leaning libertarianism is a growing political force but is unacceptable to social conservatives. A strict libertarian point of view eschews Christian and biblical principles of human nature and government. However, the U.S. Constitution established a republic under God, rather than a democracy. Our republic is a nation governed by a Constitution that is rooted in biblical law, and I, for one, am not willing to sacrifice the Bible for anything—including political advantage. For example, I affirm that the pre-born child is in fact a human being created by God in His own image. Therefore, I believe it is the constitutional duty of civil government to safeguard the lives of pre-born children, period, end of discussion.

These are the main reasons why I am calling for all of us to rally around the Constitution. Perhaps what we need is a new umbrella organization that will unite all constitutionalists. Anyone in the electorate who is fed up with the constant capitulation of constitutional principles by the two major parties and who is willing to crusade for genuine change will be welcome to participate. We would work together for major constitutional reform and to promote such basic constitutional tenets as those promoted by the Constitution Party and other likeminded organizations:

  • the belief that the Founders designed our system of government in the form of a constitutionally limited republic, with maximum freedom intended for the people and minimum government control or interference into our personal lives and business affairs.

  • the belief that government at all levels was originally intended to be controlled by the people, that the Constitution explicitly restricts the power of the federal government, and that the Bill of Rights guarantees that the government may not infringe on our God-given unalienable rights.

  • the belief that power belongs to the states, to local governments, and especially in the hands of the people.

  • the belief that citizens must return the Constitution to its rightful place as the supreme law of the land as the Founders intended.

  • the belief that the Bill of Rights must be upheld.

  • the belief that the sixteenth amendment should be repealed and the IRS abolished.

  • the belief that the seventeenth amendment should be repealed, thus reestablishing the Senate as a representative of the state governments, as intended by the Founders.

  • the belief that it is time to end all federal involvement in states issues such as crime, health, education, welfare, and the environment, including social programs such as Social Security, welfare, and Medicare.

  • the belief that all treaties and international agreements not in agreement with the federal government’s constitutionally mandated task of protecting the rights of the people should be repealed.

  • the belief that the United States should disassociate itself from the U.N. and that the federal government should refrain from meddling in the affairs of foreign nations unless there is an imminent threat to the people of the United States.

At the same time, why couldn’t we get our leading movers and shakers together for a national constitutional congress? At the very least, such a congress would send a message to the Washington elite that a constitutional crisis exists and that true patriots are willing to stand against the arrogant disregard of our liberties and freedoms. We would put our “public servants” on notice that we will demand from them moral and fiscal responsibility. We will tell them that their conduct is repugnant to our Constitution and the principles upon which we stand as a nation.

(Incidentally, I have seen something like this work before. In the 1970s there was a pressing need for Christian leaders from conservative denominations to unite around their belief in biblical inerrancy. The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy was produced at an international summit conference of evangelical leaders, held at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Chicago in the fall of 1978. This congress was sponsored by the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy. Bible scholars from numerous denominations and seminaries were invited to attend. The Chicago Statement was signed by nearly 300 noted evangelical scholars, including James Boice, Norman L. Geisler, John Gerstner, Carl F. H. Henry, Kenneth Kantzer, Harold Lindsell, John Warwick Montgomery, Roger Nicole, J. I. Packer, Robert Preus, Earl Radmacher, Francis Schaeffer, R. C. Sproul, and John Wenham. Why couldn’t a similar conference be held with the leaders of the constitutionalist movement in attendance?)

My friends, only if our various organizations begin to work together for the common good can our cause succeed. I believe that the National Coalition to Restore the Constitution has made a good start in that direction.

January 23, 2004

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

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