The Oath Of Office: The Check On Usurpations By Congress, The Executive Branch, & Federal Judges.

The Oath of Office is The Most Important “Check”!

By Publius Huldah.

Rush Limbaugh recently ¹ castigated our putative president for announcing that his regime would not enforce the Defense of Marriage Act.  Rush said:

“…He’s ordering his Justice Department not to defend a federal law.  Nobody has said the law is unconstitutional other than Obama and Holder, and they don’t have the power to do that … For a president to ignore a federal law … for him to act as legislature and court …is hugely troubling …”

Newt Gingrich commented to the same effect to Newsmax on Feb. 25, 2011; and added that “it’s a violation of his [Obama’s] constitutional oath” and “could lead to a constitutional crisis”.

Not so, Rush & Newt!  Actually, it is a President’s sworn duty to refuse to enforce any unconstitutional “law” made by Congress. And contrary to the misinformation with which we are constantly bombarded, judges are not vested with exclusive authority to declare Acts of Congress unconstitutional.

The Truth is that a President, the States, local governments, and individual citizens, together with the courts, all have the Right & Duty to overrule – to spurn & cast out – unconstitutional laws made by Congress. For it is a fundamental [though long suppressed] Principle of our Founding that an unconstitutional “law” is no “law” at all – it is a “mere usurpation, and deserves to be treated as such”.

Our Framers placed “Oaths of Office” in the Constitution. When honored, these Oaths function as “checks” on the powers of the federal government and protect us from usurpations. Each Branch of the federal government has “the check of the Oath” on the other two branches.

The States, whose officials also take the Oath of Office, have the same check on all three branches of the federal government.

And WE THE PEOPLE, the “original fountain of all legitimate authority” (Federalist No. 22, last para), have the Right to overrule violations of the Constitution by elected & appointed officials.

Ignorance of Our Founding Principles

WE THE PEOPLE forgot our Founding Principles. Conservative lawyers, politicians, judges, “intellectuals”, and radio & TV pundits don’t know them. The lawyers uncritically accepted what they were told in law school, and the non-lawyers accept what other people say. No one learns The Constitution – no one thinks independently – like Dufflepuds, they chant the prevailing dogma. As a result, our Country spirals downward at an ever quickening pace.

But if you read on, you will learn seven of our Founding Principles:

1. Who Really Is The Boss? WE THE PEOPLE?  Or the Federal Government?

WE THE PEOPLE created the federal government when we ordained & established the Constitution for the United States of America. WE created the three branches of the federal government and itemized the powers WE granted to each branch. ²Neither the Legislative, nor the Executive, nor the Judicial Branch may lawfully do ANYTHING unless WE authorized it in the Constitution. WE are the Creators; those in the federal government, be they Senators, Representatives, federal judges, Presidents or other officials, are merely our “creatures”.  When they disobey the Constitution, WE are to take action.  In Federalist No. 33 (5th para), Alexander Hamilton says:

“If the federal government should overpass the just bounds of its authority and make a tyrannical use of its powers, the people, whose creature it is, must appeal to the standard they have formed [the Constitution], and take such measures to redress the injury done to the Constitution as the exigency may suggest and prudence justify.” [emphasis added]

Did you get that? Read it again.

2. Congress’ Powers are Enumerated

In the Constitution, WE authorized Congress to make laws only on those objects WE listed in the Constitution. Those few objects on which WE authorized Congress to make laws applicable throughout our Country are itemized at Art. I, Sec. 8, clauses 1-16 (and in a few Amendments).  Here is an explanation of Congress’ Enumerated Powers.

3. When is a “Law” Not a Law?

When it’s a usurpation!  I.e., when Congress makes any “law” which the Constitution does not authorize it to make.  Our Framers understood that civil governments seek to expand their powers; but when our federal government does so, its acts are VOID. In Federalist No. 33 (last para), Hamilton says a law made by Congress which is not authorized by the Constitution,

“…would not be the supreme law of the land, but a usurpation of power not granted by the Constitution…” [boldface mine]

In Federalist No. 78 (10th para), Hamilton says:

“…every act of a delegated authority, contrary to…the commission under which it is exercised, is void. No legislative act … contrary to the Constitution, can be valid. To deny this, would be to affirm…that men acting by virtue of powers, may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid.” [emphasis mine]

Do you see?  If Congress makes a law which is not authorized by the Constitution, then it is no “law” at all.  It is a “mere usurpation” – it is “void” and “not valid“.

4. What is the “Rule of Law”?

Article VI, clause 2, says the Constitution, and the Laws & Treaties authorized by the Constitution, are the “supreme Law of the Land”.  The Rule of Law prevails when the civil authorities obey The Constitution.  Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says for “Constitution”:

“…In free states, the constitution is paramount to the statutes or laws enacted by the legislature, limiting and controlling its power; and in the United States, the legislature is created, and its powers designated, by the constitution.”

If any Branch fails to obey the “supreme Law”, then, in order to preserve the Rule of Law, the other Branches, or failing that, the States or THE PEOPLE, must overrule them.

5. What Does the Oath of Office Actually Say?

Article II, Sec. 1, last clause, sets forth the President’s Oath of Office:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Article VI, clause 3, provides that all other representatives, officers & judges (federal and state) are bound to support the Constitution.

6. The Check Provided by the Oath of Office

The Key is this:  One’s Oath is pledged to The CONSTITUTION – the Oath is NOT to go along with Congress, or to obey the Executive Branch, or submit to federal judges.

The President’s “Check” on Congress and Federal Courts

Say Congress makes a “law” which says Jews must wear a yellow star on their arm; Christians, a white cross; & that it’s a felony if they fail to wear the armbands.  Imagine you are President. You vetoed the bill; but Congress overrode your veto. Are you going to enforce that “law”?

Look at your Oath of Office.  Does your Oath require you to obey Congress ³ unless & until five people on the supreme Court say you don’t have to?  And even if those five side with Congress, will you allow U.S. Attorneys to prosecute Christians & Jews who don’t wear the arm bands?

Or will you look at your Oath of Office which recites that your Sworn Duty is to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”. The Constitution – not whatever law a majority of people in Congress pass & five people on the supreme Court approve. If you are faithful, you will review Art. I, Sec. 8, clauses 1-16, and you will ask, “Where is Congress authorized to make a law which requires Christians & Jews to wear armbands? You will see that The Constitution does not authorize Congress to make the law, and you will see that the supreme Court’s opinion upholding it is unconstitutional. You will denounce the pretended law & judges’ opinion as “mere usurpations”, and you will instruct the Attorney General & U.S. Attorneys NOT to prosecute violations of that pretended “law”. ⁴

Four Checks on Federal Judges

We were told in law school that the supreme Court is the ultimate authority on the Constitution, and when they [or rather, a majority of five] speak, we must all scurry to obey. Rubbish!

The Oath of Office (Art. VI, last clause) does require judges to strike down “laws” made by Congress which are unconstitutional.  Hamilton recognizes in Federalist No. 78 (9th para, et seq.) that judges have the power to strike down unconstitutional “laws”.

But this is the only “check” law students hear about!  Since they don’t know about The Federalist Papers & (thanks to progressive education) can’t think, they graduate law school believing that the only “check” is that of federal judges to declare laws made by Congress unconstitutional (“judicial review”). They believe that no one has a check on the supreme Court – that their word is final.

Not so! Federal judges are not gods. They are morally & intellectually fallible people who (as our Framers saw) can cause dreadful harm to our Country when they connive with another Branch.

Thus, they are subject to “the check of the Oath” for their usurpations – checks imposed by Congress, the Executive Branch, the States, and THE PEOPLE:

(a) Congress must impeach & remove federal judges who usurp power – they serve during “good Behaviour” only (Art. III, Sec.1).  Hamilton discusses impeachment of usurping judges in Federalist No. 81, 8th para. ⁵ So yes!  Congress may review the propriety of  judges’ opinions!

(b) The President must refuse to go along with unconstitutional opinions. Hamilton saw that federal judges might become “embarked in a conspiracy with the legislature” (Federalist No.16, next to last para).  So the President is bound by Oath to reject unconstitutional “laws” even when approved by the supreme Court.  And Hamilton understood that it might be appropriate for a President to refuse to enforce a federal court opinion.  He says in Federalist No. 78 (6th para):

“…The Executive not only dispenses the honors, but holds the sword of the community. The legislature not only commands the purse, but prescribes the rules by which the duties and rights of every citizen are to be regulated. The judiciary …  has no influence over … the sword or the purse; no direction … of the strength or of the wealth of the society; and can take no active resolution whatever. It may truly be said to have neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment; and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm even for the efficacy of its judgments.” [caps are Hamilton’s, other emphasis mine]

Do you see?

(c) The States must nullify unconstitutional opinions. ⁶ State officers & judges are bound by Oath to support the Constitution (Art. VI, last clause).  So they too are Honor bound to refuse to comply with unconstitutional federal court opinions, as well as unconstitutional federal laws, executive orders, & pretended treaties which affect them & their Citizens.

7. The People Have The Ultimate Power & Responsibility to Enforce The Constitution

For too long, we have shirked our Responsibility to enforce The Constitution – we let the supreme Court be in charge.

Look at what they have done with the power we relinquished to them: They approved Congress’ massive & grotesquely unconstitutional expansions of federal control over our lives [e.g., their “interstate commerce clause” & “general welfare clause” jurisprudence]; they outlawed the Faith of Our Fathers & used the 14th Amendment to bring about a radical redefinition of “Liberty” as freedom from moral restraints; and they connived with Congress in turning the once proud American People into parasites who clamor to live at other peoples’ expense. They usurped Our status as the “pure, original fountain of all legitimate authority”, and claim for themselves the power to “make policy” for our Country!

Our Framers Understood That Judges Could Be Dangerous – But Couldn’t Get Away With It Unless WE Concurred.

Hamilton says “an illegal usurpation of authority”, to be successful, “would require not merely a factious majority in the legislature, but the concurrence of the courts of justice and of the body of the people.” Because judges may be “embarked in a conspiracy with the legislature”, Hamilton expected the People to be “enlightened enough to distinguish between a legal exercise and an illegal usurpation of authority.” (Federalist No.16, next to last para).

“…liberty can have nothing to fear from the judiciary alone, but would have every thing to fear from its union with either of the other departments…” ( Federalist No. 78, 7th para).

James Madison says in Federalist No. 44 (last para before 2.):

“…the success of the usurpation [by Congress] will depend on the executive and judiciary departments, which are to expound and give effect to the legislative acts; and in the last resort a remedy must be obtained from the people, who can, by the election of more faithful representatives, annul the acts of the usurpers.” [boldface added]

So! It is up to The People, who are “the natural guardians of the Constitution” (Federalist No.16, next to last para), to take whatever action is necessary when their representatives in the federal government concur with the usurpations of another Branch – and thereby violate their Oaths to preserve The Constitution.

How do we become “enlightened enough” to do this?

Read The Declaration of Independence & The Constitution – read them often. The more you read, the more you will come to see that The Constitution gives effect to the Principles of the Declaration. Outline The Federalist Papers.  Get Mary Webster’s edition in modern English for yourself and the young people in your Family.  Consult Webster’s 1828 Dictionary for definitions. Be careful whom you trust – most conservative lawyers have minds like blank sheets of paper which got imprinted in law school; and the conservative commentators regurgitate what the indoctrinated lawyers tell them!  Study so that you can speak like this wonderful woman who challenged Rep. Pete Stark on obamacare.

Stop wasting your time on bizarre theories about the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) , “emergency powers”, “corporations”,  gold fringe on flags & admiralty jurisdiction, and other such silly stuff.  It may be tempting to place the blame on others who are in a secret cabal to take away your rights via nefarious schemes such as the UCC, “corporate government” , or adding gold fringes to flags; but the Truth is that you, along with everyone else, haven’t bothered to do the Work to learn our Founding Documents & Principles.

Lose your pride in your own knowingness about The Constitution: What you think you know, just ain’t so; and the misinformation in your head blinds you to Truth. When you just repeat the stuff you hear, you add to the problem.  Millions of Americans heard Rush & Newt and were mislead by the misinformation those two spread.  And for Heaven’s Sake, don’t advocate ratification of Amendments to the Constitution until you fully understand the existing Constitution! [And if you fully understood it, the only amendments you would want are those repealing some of the previous amendments.]

Stop thinking like a slave – we have become a Country of “permission seekers”.  For every issue, we want to file a lawsuit in federal court. Why?  Because we don’t want to take Responsibility for dealing with the issue ourselves. Spend a few hours studying the Declaration & Constitution and you will know the Constitution doesn’t give Congress authority to force you into a government controlled “health care” system. You will know it doesn’t give the Executive Branch authority to control CO² emissions. You will know it doesn’t give the Executive Branch & Congress authority to force us into pernicious UN treaties such as the Declaration on the Rights of the Child & to implement [as they are doing right now] the UN’s Agenda 21 “sustainable development” scheme.  Many federal judges are our enemies – they are the last people you should ask for permission to have constitutional government.  WE need to “man up” and take responsibility.

As Madison advises, defeat elected federal & State officials who have betrayed us; and replace them with faithful servants who will annul the acts of the usurpers.

Learn your State’s recall statutes – recall faithless elected officers. Learn your State’s impeachment procedures – demand impeachment of faithless State judges and officers. Demand impeachment of faithless federal officials and judges. Demand that each house of Congress expel members who usurp power (Art. I, Sec. 5, clause 2).  Expel the loons in the House!

Learn about Nullification by States and restore Jury Nullification in criminal cases. ⁷

Learn about Federalism.  Urge repeal of the 17th Amendment to help restore “federalism”.

Learn from the heroic Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, who practiced non-violent civil disobedience of  unjust State “laws” which enforced segregation.  Withdraw your concurrence to usurpations.

Endnotes:

¹ Rush’s show of Feb 24, 2011. When Rush speaks on the Constitution, beware!  He doesn’t know what he is talking about.   And Gingrich, who is supposed to be an intellectual & an expert, showed he is profoundly ignorant of our Founding Principles.

² Art. I creates the Legislative Branch & enumerates its powers.  Art. II creates the Executive Branch & enumerates its powers.  Art. III creates the Judicial Branch & enumerates its powers.

³ You may object, “But Art. II, Sec. 3 says the President “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed!”  And I would remind you that an unconstitutional “law” is no law at all – it is “a mere usurpation and deserves to be treated as such” – it is “VOID” & “not valid“.

⁴ In Federalist No. 66, 2nd para, and Federalist No. 77, last para,  Hamilton points out that Congress may impeach & remove the President for “encroachments” on the powers of the Legislative Branch.  So if Congress objects to your ignoring their pretended law, they may impeach & remove you.

⁵ Hamilton says in Federalist No. 78 (7th para up from bottom) that judges may not

“…substitute their own pleasure to the constitutional intentions of the legislature … The courts must declare the sense of the law; and if they should be disposed to exercise WILL instead of JUDGMENT, the consequence would … be the substitution of their pleasure to that of the legislative body...” [caps are Hamilton’s]

When federal judges substitute their pleasure for that of Congress [when Congress’ acts are constitutional] Congress is honor bound to impeach & remove them for their usurpation. And everyone else is honor bound to spit on the judges’ unconstitutional opinion. Yes! It takes he-men & she-women to enforce The Rule of Law!  Man up, People!

⁶ The supreme Court issues unconstitutional opinions all the time. Look at how they perverted the 14th Amendment and the 1st Amendment!  In these (& other) cases, they substitute their pleasures for the Will of The States and The People.

⁷ Webster’s 1828 Dictionary has the following entry under “jury”:

“…Petty juries, consisting usually of twelve men, attend courts to try matters of fact in civil causes, and to decide both the law and the fact in criminal prosecutions …” [emphasis added]

Would you convict someone for the “crimes” of failing to buy health insurance or failing to wear the armbands?  THAT is the essential purpose of  Jury Nullification in criminal cases. Get your State Legislatures to restore it and insist that it be applied in federal criminal trials conducted in your State. PH

March 29, 2011; revised Nov. 16, 2011; Sep. 26, 2015

How Progressive Education and Bad Philosophy Corrupted The People & Undermined The Constitution of The United States

By Publius Huldah.

Throughout human history, the prevailing belief system changes from time to time & place to place;  most people unthinkingly absorb whatever happens to be the prevailing dogma of their time & place. Here, I will show the radical differences between the philosophy of our Founding Era and the philosophy of today. And when I have done so, you will understand why our Country is declining and what you can do about it.  In a nutshell, the Enlightenment philosophy of our Founding Era, which was based on Reason and the recognition of the existence of Fixed Principles, was taken away from us; and replaced with the subjective philosophies of Pragmatism & Existentialism, both of which reject Reason and deny the existence of  Objective Truth & Fixed Principles. These are now the prevailing dogma of our Time; and unless we promptly repudiate them, we will fall.

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, & John Jay (authors of The Federalist Papers), and others at the Federal Convention of 1787, embodied the best aspects of The Age of Enlightenment. They were well educated, exquisitely knowledgeable in statecraft & political philosophy, embraced the concepts of Objective Reality & Fixed Principles, knew Logic, and could think. George Washington, a man renowned for his Moral Character, which was based on Judeo-Christian ideals, presided over the Convention.

The Fruit of the Philosophy, Religion, & well-trained Minds of our Framers was a Constitution which ordained and established a Federation of States which united only for THE LIMITED PURPOSES enumerated in the Constitution: national defense, international commerce & relations; and domestically, the creation of an uniform commercial system:  Weights & measures, patents & copyrights, a monetary system based on gold & silver, bankruptcy laws, and mail delivery. ¹

Progressive “Education” & the Conditioning of the American People

But during the 19th Century, Progressives took control of public schools & teachers’ colleges. They then conditioned teachers and children to abandon our Founders’  Enlightenment philosophy of Reason, Fixed Principles, & Judeo-Christian ideals; and to accept a new ideology which replaced Reason with “feelings” and denied the existence of an Objective Reality & Fixed Principles. They thus primed the objects of their conditioning to accept whatever attitudes the Progressives chose to instill in them. And the objects of this conditioning did not – do not – know what was done to them!

Samuel L. Blumenfeld explains the two opposing philosophies of education:

the “progressives”…viewed public education primarily as a tool for social and cultural reform to be achieved through the remaking of human nature; and the traditionalists …viewed education, public or private, primarily as a development of an individual’s intellectual skills in combination with moral instruction based on Judeo-Christian ideals. [“Is Public Education Necessary?”, Ch. 12]

Thanks to the traditional education they received, our Framers knew history, political philosophy & statecraft, Logic, Judeo-Christian moral ideals, and could think!

Thanks to progressive “education”, Americans have been so dumbed-down that they can’t read, ² know nothing, and can’t think. After the Progressives ripped moral instruction based on Judeo-Christian ideals out of the public schools, and replaced it with the view that morality is a matter of  subjective personal opinion or group consensus, ³ we became an amoral people who kill babies, reject altogether the concept of personal responsibility, insist on a claimed “right” to live at other peoples’ expense, and believe that the only guide for our conduct is our own likes, dislikes, & “feelings”: “I like it” or “I don’t like it”; “I feel like it” or “I don’t feel like it”. We became so shallow and morally blind that we elect fools & tyrants to high office. Thanks to “self-esteem” classes, we believe that our views & “feelings” on subjects of which we have no knowledge whatsoever are as important as anybody else’s.

With our untrained & empty minds and instilled amorality, we were rendered incapable of  resisting the conditioning of the Progressives.  And this, Folks, has been the purpose of public “education” ever since the Progressives took it over.

2000 years of Western Philosophy on Metaphysics & Epistemology ⁴ in One Paragraph

So!  In Western Civilization, we had the Age of Faith (There is an Objective Reality & Truth ⁵ and they are revealed in the Bible & Works of Creation); the Enlightenment (There is an objective Reality & Truth and we discover it by use of Reason); the Age of Romanticism (“Truth” is found in your emotions & feelings); and now, Pragmatism & Existentialism (There is no Objective Reality; “Truth” is a concept which has no meaning; there are no fixed principles, there is only “opinion” and one man’s “opinion” is as good as another’s).

Pragmatism & Existentialism

During the late 19th century, the philosophy of Pragmatism (William James, Charles Saunders Peirce, John Dewey) arose.  It rejected the concept of an Objective Reality with its Timeless Truths.  Instead of concerning oneself with the question of whether something is “True”, the pragmatist asks, “What difference will it make in my life whether I believe it or don’t believe it?”  So one looks to the “utility” of believing it or not believing it. If it has a good result for me, it is “true”.  If it has a bad result for me, it is not “true”. What is “true” for me may not be “true” for you, so an idea can be “true” for some and not “true” for others.  Furthermore, what is “true” for me today may not be “true” for me tomorrow, so “truth” evolves.

Do you see?  They tossed the concept of Objective Truth – Objective Reality – Fixed Principles & Standards – out the window.

Pragmatism morphed into Existentialism (Jean-Paul Sartre). Existentialism rejects an objective basis for life in favor of a subjective basis: ⁶ Humans are merely biological organisms living meaningless lives, making “choices” on the basis of no criteria whatsoever other than their own likes or dislikes.  Since there is no basis for any external Principles or Standards to which we must conform, people are free to do whatever they want.

Again, it was the Colleges of Education and the public schools which were the vehicles for dumbing-down the American People and conditioning them to reject the Philosophy of our Founders, and to accept the pragmatist & existentialist mind-set.

A friend recalls an incident which happened around 1960 in English class in an American public high school.  The students read a story.  The teacher asked each student to say what the story meant to him. Whatever a student said was praised by the teacher. But my friend said, “It doesn’t matter what it means to me.  What matters is what the author says.”  The teacher was most displeased with that remark.

Do you see?  Under the pretext of teaching literature, the teacher indoctrinated her students into rejecting the concept of  Objective Reality & Fixed Principles, and accepting a subjective world-view devoid of objective meaning.  The teacher most likely had no idea what she was doing – she was just following her teacher’s manual.  She was thus one of the millions of useful idiots who graduate from our Colleges of Education and set about assisting in the destruction of  the minds & morals of  the American People. ⁷

Do you not remember hearing over & over in your public schools,  “There is no black or white, there is only gray.”  “What’s true for me may not be true for you”.  “If it works, it’s right.”  “What does it mean to you?”  And when one is facing a moral decision, one is asked, “How do you feel about it?”  One’s “feelings” are set up as the criterion for making moral decisions!  There is no appeal to objective standards of Right & Wrong.  That was ripped out of the public schools by the Progressives.  And we are mystified by the high crime rates among our children? ⁸

Most Americans are now existentialists, even though they never heard of John Paul Sartre. We see our own “likes”, “dislikes”, & “feelings” as the only standard.  We just want to “feel good”.  That our personal likes & dislikes are irrelevant when they conflict with objective Standards of Good & Bad, Right & Wrong, is unthinkable.  I’ll illustrate:  It is painful, but we have no time left to pussy-foot:

Standards of Conduct:  What’s Right By Objective Standards?  Or, What do I like?

Talk to an obese person about what he eats:  He will most likely say something like, “I’ll eat what I like.”  He thus follows a subjective standard: his likes & his dislikes. Because he is an existentialist (though doesn’t know it), he rejects the idea that there is an objective standard by which one can decide what to eat and what to avoid:  That of health – Is the food healthy? Or unhealthy?  And if you tell him of this objective standard, he’ll say, “I don’t care – I’ll eat what I like.” The essence of the existentialist mind-set is that the existentialist sees no reason why he should set anything above his own “feelings”, likes, or dislikes.

There was a stay-at-home Mom. When her young children were hungry, she tossed them a box of crackers or cookies, or took them to a fast food joint.. Why?  Because she didn’t like to cook.  That she had a DUTY to provide her children with healthy food, never entered her mind.  She didn’t “like” cooking, she “felt like” going to the mall instead, and that was the end of the matter.

Couch potatoes don’t exercise because they “hate” exercise.  They reject the objective fact of Reality  that exercise is necessary to be healthy.

Pragmatism, Existentialism & Federal Judges

So! With the rise of Pragmatism & its conception of evolving and subjective “truth”, American lawyers abandoned the concept of Law as a body of fixed principles (set forth in The Declaration, The Constitution, Blackstone’s Commentaries, Natural Law &/or the Bible), and embraced the concept of an “evolving” law and an “evolving” Constitution which means whatever they – the judges – say it means! Remember!  To the pragmatist, “truth” evolves. ⁹

So THIS is the philosophical basis for judges on the supreme Court tossing out The Federalist Papers as the objective standard of the meaning of The Constitution; and substituting their own opinions. When they were in school, they were conditioned to reject the concept of Objective & Fixed Standards, and to accept Pragmatism & Existentialism; and I bet you few (if any) of them ever thought it through.  They did not resist the conditioning – they just accepted what their Manipulators instilled in them.

We teeter on the brink of disaster. YOU must rise to the occasion.  Our Country & our Posterity depend on YOUR repudiating the destructive philosophies your conditioners foisted on you; and reclaiming the rational Enlightenment philosophy & Judeo-Christian morality of our Framers. We can not save our children unless we close the public schools. ¹⁰ Education must be privatized, and we better do it now. PH

Postscript added July 22, 2011:  Melanie Phillips shows how the abandonment of the concept of Objective Principles & Standards and the embracing of moral relativism & multiculturalism is leading to the islamization of  England:   Watch it!

 

Postscript added January 29, 2013:

My friend, Nancy Coppock, understands also how relativism is destroying Our Country:   http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/01/what_we_dont_know_is_hurting_us.html

 

Endnotes:

¹ Our Constitution follows the Biblical model: a civil government with defined powers which is subject to – under – the Law.  Civil government is not the source of Law! The law comes from a higher authority:  God is the source of Law in the Bible; The Declaration of Independence & The Constitution are the Source of Law in our Country.  Acts of the three branches of the federal government are lawful or unlawful depending on whether they are consistent with the Declaration & authorized by The Constitution.  These are the standard of what is “lawful” – NOT the fiat of the brain-washed judges who sit on our courts.

Lex, Rex by Rev. Samuel Rutherford (1644), is a masterwork of which modern American pastors are ignorant.  Rev. Rutherford proves that civil authorities have legitimacy ONLY to the extent they obey The Law. We see all around us the results of our pastors’ ignorance of these Biblical teachings.

² Two/thirds of Wisconsin 8th graders can’t read proficiently! Yet their teachers are screaming for more benefits to be paid for by the taxpayers, while lying about being sick.  With the public schools, we have financed our own destruction.  And most Americans who can read,  are unable to read The Federalist Papers. Yet The Federalist is essential for a correct understanding of the objective (genuine) meaning of our Constitution & they were published in Newspapers in 1787-88!

³ “Values clarification” is the version of “moral guidance” foisted in the public schools on our children since the 1960’s.  Public school teachers are telling children that they are “…free to choose ethical and moral behavior that resonates with them.”  They thus “liberate” children from “authoritarian” teachings on morality.

⁴ “Metaphysics” deals with the nature of Reality; “Epistemology”, with theories of Knowledge.  The Ayn Rand Institute has an excellent lexicon for philosophical terms. Rand was a non-theist; PH is a Christian theist.  Hence, there are some differences.  But both see “Natural Law” (Physics, Mathematics, Logic, Morality, Politics, etc.) as woven into the Fabric of Reality.  Both see the Universe as governed by LAW; and that the duty of man is to learn & to obey these Laws.

Thus, the Great Divide is between those who accept the concept of Divine or “Natural Law”; and those, such as Progressives, Libertarians, Pragmatists, & Existentialists, who reject it. They deny the existence of any standard other than their own “feelings”, likes & dislikes.

⁵ “objective reality” means this: “Reality exists as an objective absolute—facts are facts, independent of man’s feelings, wishes, hopes or fears.”  In other words, things are the way they are regardless of what you like, don’t like, agree with or don’t agree with.

⁶ “subjectivism” is “…the belief that reality is not a firm absolute, but a fluid, plastic, indeterminate realm which can be altered, in whole or in part, by the consciousness of the perceiver—i.e., by his feelings, wishes or whims.  It is the doctrine which holds that man—an entity of a specific nature, dealing with a universe of a specific nature—can, somehow, live, act and achieve his goals apart from and/or in contradiction to the facts of reality, i.e., apart from and/or in contradiction to his own nature and the nature of the universe…”

⁷ In “The Abolition of Man“, C.S. Lewis illustrates how the concept of “objective value” was ripped out of the hearts of British school children by their teachers.  He also discusses the “Natural Law” and how it has been universally recognized. His book is only 113 pages, double-spaced, & one of the most important books ever written. Read it. Outline it. Tell all in your spheres of influence.

⁸ But at least we can take comfort in the knowledge that our children are not being taught in public schools such things as, “thou shalt not kill”, “thou shalt not steal”, “thou shalt not bear false witness”, “thou shalt not covet”, and other such “authoritarian” & offensive rubbish.

⁹ In “The Second American Revolution“, attorney John W. Whitehead (Rutherford Institute) writes of this.  This is a valuable book which shows how bad philosophy corrupted our judges.

¹⁰ Glen Beck and others are showing that under the pretext of teaching reading, progressive “educators” are now telling our children the Lie that our Constitution institutes socialism! PH

March 6, 2011