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Why Did the Founders Not Require a Religious Test?

By Bill Fortenberry On May 20, 2013 · 9 Comments · In Current Events

Ever since the Constitution was first submitted for ratification, the final clause in Article VI has been a matter of strong contention among Americans. That clause, known as the religious test clause, simply states that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” It is frequently claimed that this clause represents the desire of the founding fathers to keep religion out of the government and to establish a secular nation. But is that really how this phrase was intended to be used?

To understand the true purpose of the religious test clause, we must hearken back to the Corporation Act of 1661. This was the first of three Test Acts which were implemented in England and which remained in effect until 1828. Under these acts, no one could hold office in England unless he swore an oath of fealty not to God but rather to the doctrines of the Church of England. This was the kind of religious test which the founders prohibited. They had no objection to biblical qualifications. What they objected to was the requirement that all government officials be forced to swear allegiance to the codified doctrines of an established church.

How Does Obamacare Affect You? – Part 2

By Seth Connell On May 18, 2013 · Leave a Comment · In Current Events

Last week, just some of the effects on businesses were analyzed. It was shown that businesses will have to pay more in taxes, have excessive regulation, and lose incentive to expand, and even downsize if necessary. Trickling down from the effects of this bill onto businesses, people’s personal finances will be severely affected. Let’s take a look at some areas where you may feel the pinch.

Knowing that businesses will have to downsize to ensure they are below the 50 employee threshold, that means layoffs of workers, namely people like you. Small businesses have already begun to lay off workers, and cut back hours making full-time employees part-time. That means less pay, or no pay in the case of being laid off. Not only do people lose their paycheck, but also medical benefits that full-time jobs provide. From personal experience, I know that purchasing health insurance out-of-pocket is extremely expensive, and not a viable option for most families.

So, people being laid off, and/or reductions in their hours. Obviously this is a huge blow to many American families. But the effects of the bill do not stop at the business sector. As this is a health care bill, the health care system will be severely impacted, and that trickles down to you (next week, I will examine the effects on the medical system).

What is a good citizen? – Thoughts from some of the Founding Fathers

By William G. (Bill) Chrystal On May 18, 2013 · 4 Comments · In Current Events

In a list of questions the Immigration and Naturalization Service makes available to people studying for American citizenship, the following question is asked: “What is the most important right granted to U.S. citizens?” Think about this for a moment. The answer may surprise you: It is, “The right to vote.”

In a time when half of the American people don’t bother to vote, one is startled to read that John Adams, in 1761, implied that one of the best reasons for literacy is that it makes people better voters, and hence, better citizens. “Every man has in politics as well as religion a right to think and speak and act for himself,” Adams wrote. “I must judge for myself, but how can I judge, how can any man judge, unless his mind has been opened and enlarged by reading? A man who can read will find… rules and observations that will enlarge his range of thought and enable him the better to judge who has and who has not that integrity of heart and that compass of knowledge and understanding which form the statesman.”

Free elections are at the heart of American democracy. In 1788, Alexander Hamilton declared to the people of New York that “the true principle of a republic is that the people should choose whom they please to govern them.” Almost ten years later, John Adams explained the sacredness of a single vote in his 1797 inaugural address, “If an election is to be determined by a majority of a single vote, and that [vote] can be procured by a party through artifice or corruption, the government may be the choice of a party for its own ends, not of the nation for the national good.”

The Miracle of the United States – America’s Formula For Freedom – Part 4

By Bill Bailey On May 14, 2013 · Leave a Comment · In Current Events

The Man Who Solved the Puzzle of America’s Formula for Freedom, Part 4

June 7, 1776 is a fateful day in the history of the United States. Acting under the instruction of the Virginia Convention, Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution in the Second Continental Congress proposing independence for the colonies. The Lee Resolution contained three parts: a declaration of independence, a call to form foreign alliances, and “a plan for confederation:”

Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.

That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances.

That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation. [i]

How Obamacare Affects You – Part 1

By Seth Connell On May 14, 2013 · 4 Comments · In Current Events

With the passing and implementing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010, there are going to be a lot of changes to the healthcare system that will affect everyone with any connection to the medical field. The bill was well over 2,000 pages long, not including the more than 20,000 pages of regulations created. With an understanding of economics, an amount of regulations that large is bound to create problems for health care providers and businesses alike. What is important to know is that there are effects that come from this bill that will trickle down to you and me. In this section, I will give some perspective on the effects that this bill will create. In this part, let’s look at the business aspect of this legislation.

There is no question that the health care system in the United States has needed repair for a long time, but this bill that is just starting to go into effect is already strangling many businesses to the breaking point. One of the provisions in the bill is that any business with 50 or more full time employees must provide full health insurance. As of now, many small businesses are struggling to stay afloat in the midst of a rough economy, but will adding to the costs of these businesses really help the economy? Many of these small businesses have had to cut back on hours, making workers part time, or laying off workers to ensure they were below the 50 employee threshold. Businesses now have no incentive to expand and hire more people, as any newly gained profits are most likely going to be offset, if not surpassed by the requirements from the health care law.

Should government ever interfere in decisions about what you eat or how you treat your body?

By Steve Straub On May 11, 2013 · 1 Comment · In Current Events

A couple of days ago we posted the story of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg saying “I do think there are certain times we should infringe on your freedom” as part of his campaign to institute a ban on large soda’s in his city.

We asked “Should government ever interfere in your personal decisions in regards to food, or how you treat your body? Why or why not?”

We received 819 replies to our questions and the replies below are representative of what many of you had to say on this issue:

I think Bloomberg should be locked up in a straight jacket for his own good.
It’s amazing the same people who think it is “your right” to kill an unborn baby seem to have no problem with the government telling you what to eat, drink and smoke and if you should be able to own or carry a gun. Liberal hypocrisy is abundant and stupifying.
There should never ever be a law on the books that is designed to protect us from ourselves… we should always have the right to choose what is right or wrong for ourselves and accept the natural consequences for such decisions.
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Anthony Weiner, Mark Sanford, and Virtue

By Thomas S. Kidd On May 9, 2013 · 3 Comments · In Current Events

Just when we thought we had seen the last of former New York congressman Anthony Weiner, who had to resign from the House over lewd tweets he sent (and initially denied), it turns out that he is considering a run for mayor of New York. In light of this development, the New York Times did a front-page piece on what Weiner has been up to in the two years since his spectacular demise.

Far from flipping burgers, Weiner has actually been making a fortune as a consultant, and has even started his own green energy business. He and his wife have been “movin’ on up,” as they say, relocating from a modest Queens home to a fancy Park Avenue apartment in Manhattan. Gross acts of public immorality don’t wreck one’s career prospects anymore, and the Times even speculates that these two years off may enhance Weiner’s political fortunes, allowing him to tout his newfound business credentials.

Weiner is all too representative of a political culture that lacks what the Founders called “virtue.” This is a bipartisan problem: witness former South Carolina governor and Republican Mark Sanford’s remarkable comeback from his bizarre “Appalachian Trail” disappearance, which turned out to be a trip to see his Argentine mistress (who has since become his fiancée). Now Sanford has easily won a special election for a seat in Congress from the 1^st District of South Carolina.

Is The Administration Purposefully Creating An Ammunition Shortage?

By Steve Straub On May 9, 2013 · 7 Comments · In Current Events

A couple of days ago we posted the story of Republican Sen. James Inhofe accusing the Obama administration of buying up ammunition at an unprecedented level to bypass the Second Amendment so gun-owners “can’t even buy ammunition because government is purchasing so much.”

We asked “What do you think, is the government purposely trying to create ammunition shortages or is that just a bunch of conspiracy nonsense? Why or why not?”

We received 668 replies to our questions and the replies below are representative of what many of you had to say on this issue:

What Should Responsible Gun Owners Do?

By Nick Antinozzi On May 9, 2013 · 2 Comments · In Current Events

Whatever you think of the gun control crowd, you have to agree that these people are organized, focused, and absolutely relentless. Underestimating them would be a huge mistake with grave consequences. While we may have won the latest fight, this battle rages on. One wonders what could be accomplished if all of this energy could be bridled into a worthy cause, like balancing the budget or creating jobs. Sadly, we will never know. With the media blitzkrieg in full-swing, the liberals have made it abundantly clear that they will attack again.

Shamelessly, the left continues to point to Newtown to further their agenda. Can anyone name one thing the left has done to make our schools safer after the Sandy Hook tragedy? Of course you can’t, because only a fool actually believes this battle is about safer schools. Look at how airports were transformed after 9/11, what are we doing to protect our children? I know I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but can someone explain to me the purpose of having a Department of Homeland Security, when we won’t allow it in our schools to protect our future? If this branch of the Alphabet Men wasn’t created to protect our children, why are they even necessary? Yes, I understand that this would be a costly measure, but surely no more costly than the TSA.

And what about attempting to reach out and offer help to these demented people before they go off? Where can they go to seek help? Why aren’t we seeing a national hotline number these sick people can call? I’ll tell you why: these people are useful tools to have in the left’s arsenal when it comes to their fight to disarm America. Call it what you will, the liberal media is practically begging the next copycat to crawl out of the woodwork to further their agenda. That should make you sick.

Does Common Sense Exist In Public Schools?

By Steve Straub On May 8, 2013 · 13 Comments · In Current Events

Yesterday we shared the story of the second grader who was suspended for pointing A pencil at another student making gun noises. Bethanne Bradshaw, spokesman for the Suffolk Public Schools said “A pencil is a weapon when it is pointed at someone in a threatening way and gun noises are made”.

When the boy’s father asked him about the incident he said, ‘Well I was being a Marine and the other guy was being a bad guy”. The boy’s father was a Marine for many years. He thinks school leaders overreacted.

We asked your thoughts on the issue and 476 of you replied. The comments below are representative of what most of you had to say about this issue:

Policing Within The Constitution – Freedom of Speech

By Tim Meacham On May 8, 2013 · 9 Comments · In Current Events

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Policing with the Constitution in mind can get touchy here. Every police officer with more than one year of experience has had THAT person say something like, “It’s called freedom of speech, ever heard of it?” And, we usually come back with something about restrictions like yelling “fire” in a movie theater, or some other example. This is a tricky part of the Constitution, and I believe that we have to look at the intent of this part of the First Amendment.

The document I believe that helped create this clause of the First Amendment is the Declaration of Independence. When Jefferson wrote out that document and those 56 men who put their name at the bottom of the document knew, according to English law, they were committing treason. That entire document, addressing the grievances of the colonies, was nothing but a large piece of treasonous prose, beginning with, “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another…” (by the way, I did that from memory, not Google….thank you 10^th, 11^th, and 12^th grade VA and US History and Government teachers!). As we all know, Jefferson continued on listing all of the grievances from the colonies, calling them “abuses” and “usurpations”.

What Has Happened to the Benghazi Investigation?

By Seth Connell On May 6, 2013 · 4 Comments · In Current Events

On September 11, 2012, a terrorist group attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, killing four Americans, including U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens. Much controversy has surrounded this case, including the reason behind the attack, and the investigation into it during the following months. The first explanation for the attack was a protest about an anti-Islamic video produced in the United States. However, as new details and accounts emerged from the investigation, the attack was later referred to as terrorism.

The thought that comes to my mind is where did they obtain the evidence to rule this attack as a mere protest gone wrong? From an investigative standpoint, motivation for a crime (in this case, terrorism) cannot simply be determined in a day or two after the event. So why did this administration put U.N. ambassador Susan Rice in a position to say this attack was merely a protest over a video that very few people had even heard of? Knowing that terrorism is commonplace against Americans in the Middle East, and that September 11 is a day of victory for the Islamic world, it would have made more sense for the attack to be primarily labeled as a terrorist attack, and not just a mere escalated protest.

The investigation into the attack has been underway for months, but recent testimony from whistle-blowers on the case shows that they were threatened by the Obama administration in light of revealing information on the attack. What immediately comes to my mind when I see these reports is that if people are being threatened for cooperating and contributing to a terrorism investigation, something is seriously wrong. No matter what political alignment is in power, an investigation into the murder of four Americans by radical terrorists should not be hindered, or involve personal threats. When someone is trying to obstruct justice by making threats against those who are going to help advance the investigation, it is blatantly obvious that someone is trying to cover-up their own actions or inaction.

The Miracle of the United States – America’s Formula For Freedom – Part 3

By Bill Bailey On May 5, 2013 · Leave a Comment · In Current Events

The Man Who Solved the Puzzle of America’s Formula for Freedom, Part 3

The year 1776 had a gloomy beginning for the colonies. January saw arrival of news that the industrious American campaign to capture Quebec had end in defeat on December 31. General Richard Montgomery, arguably America’s first national hero, was killed in the battle and Benedict Arnold, one of the campaign’s heroes, was wounded. It would be only a few, seemingly short, months before all colonial forces were expelled from Canada.

More than 4,000 of General Washington’s army were lost in the ill-fated campaign and many of the survivors were in poor health. Morale was low. Few soldiers reenlisted when their enlistments expired. The British were content to remain in secure areas, leaving Washington’s forces unoccupied. The demoralized, and now bored, troops resorted to fighting among themselves. The general remarked about one such outburst of violence in his General Orders for April 27, 1776:

“The Riotous Behaviour of some Soldiers of the Continental Army, Yesterday, and the Evening before, has filled the General, with much Regret, and concern; and lays him under the disagreeable necessity of declaring, that if the like behaviour should be practiced again, the Authors will be brought to the severest punishment if taken, or treated as a common Enemy, if they dare to resist — Men are not to carve out Remedies for themselves — If they are injured in any respect, there are legal Modes to obtain relief; and just Complaints will always be attended to, and redressed. It should be the pride of a Soldier, to conduct himself in such a manner, as to obtain the Applause, and not the reproach of a people, he is sent to defend; and it should be the business, as it is the duty of an Officer to inculcate and enforce this doctrine.”[i]

What Happened to Common Sense?

By Noelle Campbell On May 4, 2013 · 3 Comments · In Current Events

When Thomas Paine wrote his book “Common Sense,” no one disputed what common sense actually meant. While some may have objected to Paine’s application of some common sense to political actions, no one argued that his actions were common sense. The argument at the time was, much like it is now, that common sense must be put aside for a ‘greater good.’

Unfortunately for modern times, when we say ‘common sense,’ it seems pretty clear that a large portion of the American people no longer understands what it means. Here are some examples:

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/03/27/man-80-arrested-after-shooting-alleged-burglar/

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/story/19183590/man-arrested-for-shooting-burglars

http://www.fox43tv.com/dpps/news/strange/child-suspended-over-pop-tart-gun_5675054

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/04/24/middle-school-changes-policy-after-student-sent-to-office-for-wearing-support-our-troops-t-shirt-on-an-army-base/

And I’m sure you could add many, many, many more. They turn up weekly in the local newspaper.

Which Revolution?

By Bill Fortenberry On May 3, 2013 · 13 Comments · In Current Events

I recently read that modern Americans would affiliate more with the principles of the French Revolution than with the American Revolution. This concept intrigued me, and I began searching for the key difference between these two events. I found the answer in a letter about the French Revolution that John Adams wrote to Thomas Jefferson. Here is what Adams said:

“No man is more sensible than I am of the service to science and letters, humanity, fraternity, and liberty, that would have been rendered by the encyclopedists and economists, by Voltaire, D’Alembert, Buffon, Diderot, Rousseau, La Lande, Frederic and Catherine, if they had possessed common sense … And what was their philosophy? Atheism,—pure, unadulterated atheism. Diderot, D’Alembert, Frederic, De La Lande, and Grimm, were indubitable atheists. The universe was master only, and eternal. Spirit was a word without a meaning. Liberty was a word without a meaning. There was no liberty in the universe; liberty was a word void of sense. Every thought, word, passion, sentiment, feeling, all motion and action was necessary. All beings and attributes were of eternal necessity; conscience, morality, were all nothing but fate. This was their creed, and this was to perfect human nature, and convert the earth into a paradise of pleasure.”

This philosophy of atheism reveals to us why Americans now find the French revolution more appealing than their own. Compare Adams’ description of the French revolutionaries with this statement by Richard Dawkins:

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