The Founders View of Religion and Government and the First Amendment

I wonder if anybody out there is really interested in what the founding fathers intended when they wrote the First Amendment to the Constitution?  Did they really intend, as the Courts have been interpreting for the last sixty-two years, that religion have no role in government, that the government not allow religious practices, or the mention of the Ten Commandments on any local, state, or federal government facility?

That answer is found in the discussions and writings of those who wrote the First Amendment and signed the Constitution.  When we read what the founders really intended, it should make every reader, as it did me, absolutely furious at how the U.S. Supreme Court erred in their interpretation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.  In my eyes, that ruling becomes treasonous because it absolutely ignores the intent of the founders, which violates the oath every federal judge takes to protect and defend the Constitution.

Read for examples these quotes as highlighted in David Barton's Book "Original Intent-The Courts, The Constitution, and Religion", as they commented on how future generations should interpret the Constitution:

To avoid the “injurious mistakes” which may arise from misinterpreting the First Amendment, one need simply establish the original intent of that Amendment. How can this be accomplished? As President Thomas Jefferson admonished Supreme Court Justice William Johnson:
“On every question of construction, carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.”

James Madison also declared:
I entirely concur in the propriety of resorting to the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation. In that sense alone it is the legitimate Constitution. And if that be not the guide in expounding it, there can be no security for a consistent and stable, more than for a faithful, exercise of its powers. . . . What a metamorphosis would be produced in the code of law if all its ancient phraseology were to be taken in its modern sense.”

Justice James Wilson similarly explained:
“The first and governing maxim in the interpretation of a statute is to discover the meaning of those who made it.”

So, what was the intention of the writers of the First Amendment? Shown below are some of the notes from the committee at the Constitutional Convention where the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments to the Constitution that were passed).

Look at some of the proposed wordings of the First Amendment:
George Mason (a member of the Constitutional Convention and “The Father of the Bill of Rights”) proposed:
“All men have an equal, natural and unalienable right to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that no particular sect or society of Christians ought to be favored or established by law in preference to others.”

James Madison proposed:
“The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established.”

In the official record of the committee discussing the First Amendment:
“AUGUST 15, 1789. Mr. [Peter] Sylvester [of New York] had some concerns and doubts. . . . He feared it [the First Amendment] might be thought to have a tendency to abolish religion altogether. . . . Mr. [Elbridge] Gerry [of Massachusetts] said it would read better if it was that “no religious doctrine shall be established by law.” . . . Mr. [ James] Madison [of Virginia] said he apprehended the meaning of the words to be, that “Congress should not establish a religion, and enforce the legal observation of it by law.” . . . [T]he State[s]. . . seemed to entertain an opinion that under the clause of the Constitution . . . it enabled them [Congress] to make laws of such a nature as might. . . establish a national religion; to prevent these effects he presumed the amendment was intended. . . . Mr. Madison thought if the word “national” was inserted before religion, it would satisfy the minds of honorable gentlemen. . . . He thought if the word “national” was introduced, it would point the amendment directly to the object it was intended to prevent. “

Even the casual reader can plainly see that the concern of the founding fathers was that the federal government would establish a national religion, giving preference to one sect of the Christian religion over the others that were present in the colonies at that time. In none of those discussions does it even suggest, as the more modern interpretations of that Amendment would have us believe, that the founders intended for religion to be kept out of government. And to try and derive from the discussions that the mere presence of a plaque or poster of the Ten Commandments creates a national religion is ludicrous, if not criminal. Any doubts, read what the 1853 – 1854 House and Senate Judiciary Committee report reads regarding a definition of the establishment of religion:

“HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: What is an establishment of religion? It must have a creed defining what a man must believe; it must have rites and ordinances which believers must observe; it must have ministers of defined qualifications to teach the doctrines and administer the rites; it must have tests for the submissive and penalties for the nonconformist. There never was an established religion without all these. . . . Had the people, during the Revolution, had a suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, that Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle. At the time of the adoption of the Constitution and the amendments, the universal sentiment was that Christianity should be encouraged, not any one sect [denomination]. Any attempt to level and discard all religion would have been viewed with universal indignation. . . . It [religion] must be considered as the foundation on which the whole structure rests. . . . In this age there can be no substitute for Christianity; that, in its general principles, is the great conservative element on which we must rely for the purity and permanence of free institutions. That was the religion of the founders of the republic, and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: The clause speaks of “an establishment of religion.” What is meant by that expression? It referred, without doubt, to that establishment which existed in the mother- country. . . . [which was an] endowment, at the public expense, in exclusion of or in preference to any other, by giving to its members exclusive political rights, and by compelling the attendance of those who rejected its communion upon its worship or religious observances. These three particulars constituted that union of church and state of which our ancestors were so justly jealous, and against which they so wisely and carefully provided. . . . They [the Founders] intended, by this Amendment, to prohibit “an establishment of religion” such as the English Church presented, or any thing like it. But they had no fear or jealousy of religion itself, nor did they wish to see us an irreligious people . . . they did not intend to spread over all the public authorities and the whole public action of the nation the dead and revolting spectacle of atheistical apathy.”

No ambiguity in those writings. And even though the U.S. Supreme Court that established the Separation clause as now interpreted had at its disposal the same writings as shown above for use in making its legendary ruling (Everson-vs-School Board, 1947), they either were too ignorant to find the writing, or maliciously chose to ignore them as they imposed a now sixty year war against religion in the United States by their erroneous ruling on America.

Look at what Justice James Story, called the Father of American Jurisprudence, and a justice of the 1st Supreme Court said about religion and the government:  "We are not to attribute this [First Amendment] prohibition of a national religious establishment to an indifference to religion in general, and especially to Christianity (which none could hold in more reverence, than the framers of the Constitution). . . . Probably, at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, and of the Amendment to it now under consideration, the general, if not the universal, sentiment in America was that Christianity ought to receive encouragement from the State. . . . An attempt to level all religions and to make it a matter of state policy to hold all in utter indifference would have created universal disapprobation [disapproval] if not universal indignation [anger].  (emphasis added)"

Look what some of the other founders of our nation said about the relationship between government and religion:
Samuel Adams:  As piety, religion and morality have a happy influence on the minds of men, in their public as well as private transactions, you will not think it unseasonable, although I have frequently done it, to bring
to your remembrance the great importance of encouraging our University, town schools, and other seminaries of education, that our children and youth while they are engaged in the pursuit of useful science, may have their minds impressed with a strong sense of the duties they owe to their God."
William Samuel Johnson (signer of the Constitution):  You have . . . received a public education, the purpose whereof hath been to qualify you the better to serve your Creator and your country. . . . Your first great duties, you are sensible, are those you owe to Heaven, to your Creator and redeemer. Let these be ever present to your minds, and exemplified in your lives and conduct."
George Washington (1st President of the United States:  "[R]eason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. . . . Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge."
Joseph Story, Supreme Court Justice and the Father of American Jurisprudence:  "Why may not the Bible, and especially the New Testament, without note or comment, be read and taught as Divine revelation in the college [school]—its general precepts expounded, its evidences explained and its glorious principles of morality inculcated? . . .Where can the purest principles of morality be learned so clearly or so perfectly as from the New Testament?"


Clearly, the Christian faith in America has been viciously attacked and undermined by the ACLU and other anti-Christian organizations since that infamous ruling. The liberal media, the federal courts, and the liberal congress are in an all-out attack to confine the Christian religion practice inside the halls of religious buildings, and to banish it from the public view and government grounds. They cannot stand in the face of Christian principles and defend their demonic practices of condoning and even encouraging sexual immorality, homosexual behavior, abortion, and the destruction of States' Rights such as been imposed on American society for the last sixty years.

The insidious and reprehensible practices of all three branches of the federal government are an all-out attempt to destroy the very Bill of Rights as was written and interpreted by the founding fathers for the first one hundred fifty years of our nation's existence. Their behavior and practices are no less a threat to the survival of the nation our founding fathers existed as was fascism under Hitler and Communism under the Soviet Union and Communist China. The reversal of this trend is no less necessary to the enduring security of our inalienable rights as Americans as was the defeat of the Nazis in Germany, the defeat of the Japanese in World War II, and the destruction of Communism and Socialism as was present in the Soviet Union.

I just pray most Americans will have the scales removed from their eyes so they can see the insidious behavior of our government, both democrats and republicans in all three branches, and then vote to kick them all out of office before it is too late, or any more damage can be done to the security and perseverance of the future generations of Americans that must dig us out of this hole we have allowed ourselves to be put in.

Things that I love and hate about America at this time:

I love America, but most of what is happening in America right now makes me very angry, and I absolutely hate it.  Here are some of the things that I love and some of the things that I hate about America:

THINGS I LOVE:

• ·         People who will not let the Government push them around, but will stand up and speak the truth regardless of how the government might try to intimidate them.
• ·         American Soldiers; men and women of the United States Army,  the United States Marine Corps, the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, and the United States Air Force, that put their lives on the line daily to protect America’s freedoms.
• ·         Godly men and women that stand up and defend American’s rights to worship God as they please, when they please, where they please, and how they please, and do so not for the praise and adoration of men, but for the glory of God
• ·         Men and women that sacrifice their time, money, and labor to help those that cannot help themselves
• ·         People that are humble, selfless, yet courageous
• ·         The beauty of our nation’s natural environment
• ·         Our Constitution
• ·         Our Declaration of Independence
• ·         Our history, including the fact that Americans were willing to fight a war and die in order to abolish the greatest blight on any society, where one person can be owned by another person and be forced to work for that person as long as they may live, and treated like a possession rather than a human being.
• ·         That America is willing to change what needs to be changed about its laws and regulations in order to become a nation more closely akin to that nation envisioned by our founders.
• ·         That, for the moment, Americans are encouraged to become business owners, to go out and take that risk, and to enjoy the fruits of their labors.
• ·         That I have friends and family that love me, in spite of my flaws and imperfections, and encourage me to be a better human being.
• ·         People who love children, know that they are God’s most precious gift, and will treat them as such.
• ·         The freedom of flight; of seeing God’s creations from His perspective, and being awed by what God has created.
• ·         My wife and children, and my grandchildren.
• ·         People who will forgive…regardless of the offense against them, whether imagined or real
• ·         Women who choose to give birth to an unplanned child over an abortion.
• ·         Men who treasure a woman that wants to be a good wife, a good mother, and a Godly partner in life.
• ·         Women who treasure a man that wants to be a good husband, a good father, and a Godly partner in life.
• ·         That I have the right to say what I want

THINGS I HATE:

• ·         I see politicians and judges ignoring the wishes and guidelines that our founding fathers had when the penned the greatest documents on earth other than the Holy Bible; e.g., The Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. 
• ·         I see everyone expecting a free handout and nobody willing to work for it
• ·         I see politicians, both Republicans and Democrats constantly lying, exaggerating, and promising whatever they think the voters want, knowing full well they cannot deliver what they promise.
• ·         I hate politicians that are only in politics for what they can get out of it, instead of what they can give to those they represent.
• ·         I see women demanding the right to do with their bodies as they wish, including killing an unborn child that they created, using the excuse that under the Constitution, their right to privacy is violated if they cannot (a right nowhere mentioned in the Constitution)
• ·         I see those same women demanding that they be provided birth control pills or other contraceptive services at no cost to them (e.g., we, the taxpayers pay for it), whether we agree with the idea of birth control or not.
• ·         I see politicians playing with people’s ability to make a living, using that as a tool to earn money or political support from special interest groups.
• ·         I see judges ignoring the founders of our nation’s will when it comes to religion and government and creating an atmosphere where Christian beliefs, which the founders almost universally used as the foundations for our civil and criminal laws, now being banned from the public square.
• ·         I see politicians giving aid and comfort to the enemy in order to make the other party look bad, and in doing so cost American soldier’s lives by encouraging the enemy to just hang on because we do not have the leadership and stomach to stay there and see the job done, and saying the war is lost when, in the end, militarily, we won!
• ·         I see the government and unions creating a workforce of incompetents and hanger-on’ers instead of encouraging efficiency and performance.
• ·         I see unscrupulous lawyers filing frivolous lawsuits to get unscrupulous clients huge settlements, which drives up everybody else’s insurance rates.
• ·         I see our government trying to bypass and destroy the U.S. Constitution by forcing religious organizations to violate their religious principles and provide free contraceptive services to women.
• ·         I see women choosing to have unprotected sex, then when they get pregnant, expecting the federal government to “give” them an abortion.  They choose to kill an unborn baby rather than take preventative measure to not get pregnant; in other words, murdering an unborn child is OK, as long as I can have unprotected sex when I want to. (statistics show that 97% of abortions are elective and have nothing to do with the health of the mother, rape, or incest)
• ·         I see brave, young American soldiers being wounded, maimed, and killed fighting a war, then coming home and being treated like a second-class citizen, having to fight the VA and the military to get the treatments they need while their families are forced to live on a meager existence, often having to have food stamps to feed themselves and their families.
• ·         I see institutions like the VA and Social Security forcing individuals to have to hire lawyers to force them to properly review an individual’s needs for disability and grant the individuals the benefits they have fought to earn, rather than looking for ways to help individuals in true need.
• ·         I see Supreme Court justices being appointed primarily because they support a political philosophy rather than the proper reason, e.g., that they will make proper interpretations of the Constitution according to the guidelines our founding fathers intended.
• ·         I see politicians passing laws and programs to be imposed upon the citizens of this nation, but excluding themselves from the programs because they KNOW the programs and laws are either sub-standard, or will not work at all.
• ·         I see politicians of the same party attacking other candidates running for the same office they are running for, resorting to negative campaigning, pulling facts or statements out of context to make their opponents look bad, and creating a totally negative, depressing, destructive image in the minds of voters, and, sadly, the voters not smart enough or strong enough to see through the tactics and demand better.
• ·         I see Biblical morality attacked and smeared by special interest groups and the courts, in favor of the courts supporting immorality, pornography, and agnosticism, and doing so under the guises of that being the intent of the Constitution, when, if one reads the Constitution and the notes and memoires of the founders, the actual intent of the founders was exactly the opposite of what the courts are doing.
• ·         I see politicians mortgaging the future of our nation in order to continue funding failed programs which encourage people not to work, not to complete their schooling, to have more babies out of wedlock, to not get married, to pay off political debts to contributors, to fund special interest projects like Solendra and other failed experiments.
• ·         I hate a President that insults our foreign allies, becomes an apologist for the greatest nation on earth, sucks up to Islamic nations, creates a prayer day in Washington for Muslims, but will not celebrate the National Day of Prayer in 2011, refuses to call Muslim extremists “terrorists”, and brands members of the Tea Party security risks to America.
• ·         That people like Bill Mayer can have a platform on the television airways and mock and demean God, Christians, politicians that he disagrees with, etc., and that it is legal and he makes millions by doing it, when he should be shunned by society as a man possessed with demons from Hell, like he is!
• ·         That people like Rush Limbaugh can get on the airwaves and call a woman a slut because she voices her opinion in Congress, even though I wholeheartedly disagree with her opinions.
• ·         News Media organizations that are openly biased in their news reporting, rather than being a fair and neutral source of information for the American public.
• ·         That our President and liberals believe the have the right to take money away from those who earn it and give it to those who do nothing for it, because it is their duty to insure everyone gets “their fair share”.
• ·         That my freedom of speech is not guaranteed if I disagree with the Federal Government’s stance regarding homosexuality, abortion, or the Government’s role and intrusions into my life or anyone else’s life.

Obamacare-an example of what we can expect.

          Obamacare is supposed to be this panacea that will provide health care to the masses, and will solve the problems in the system. Well, if what I went through over the last two weeks is any precursor to what Obamacare will be like, God help us, we are in for the most dehumanizing, demoralizing, aggravating experience we could ever ask for.

            My wife has been on a prescription medicine for years! Until the spring of 2010, we got it through her private health care plan through the bank where she worked. Last spring, she resigned and went to work at a location where she does not have health care, so I put her on my military retirement health care plan called TRICARE & EXPRESS SCRIPTS.

            As soon as we went on the military plan, they told us that my wife's name brand medication was not approved without a Doctor's orders, so they gave her a generic. She took the generic and started having severe problems, so we did whatever we had to do at that time, and they started providing her the name brand in ninety day supplies. All was well until about two weeks ago.

            I called the prescription in for refill, and they told me that it was not covered, that we had to get a pre-authorization from her doctor. I told them we'd already crossed that bridge back nine months ago, but they said that they could not find a pre-authorization, so they would not fill it. I reminded them that we'd fought the battle once before, and that they had been providing the name brand for over 180 days; their response...there is no pre-authorization on file, therefore they could not fill it.

            After fighting with them for the next two days, at times having my blood pressure near the point of blowing the top of my head off, I realize that all I am doing is alienating everyone at Express Scripts and TRICARE Southern Region, so I tell them that they need to FAX the pre-authorization form over to my wife's doctor so they can complete the pre-authorization form and get it to them so my wife can get her prescription refilled, which they do.

            Next day, I call them and find out that my wife's nurse had talked with Express Script's pre-authorization department and spent twenty-two minutes explaining why my wife needed the name brand (e.g., that she had tried the generic, it gave her severe stomach cramps and other problems; that they had already talked with Express Scripts in the past, and that my wife had been getting the name-brand prescription for over 180 days)

            The person my wife's nurse is talking with continues to pursue how my wife reacted to the generic; actually asked the nurse if my wife had gone into anaphylactic shock from the generic! The nurse said "no", and re-iterated my wife's problems, then they hang up.

When I call the next morning, I find that the pre-authorization application was declined! Apparently, the severe stomach cramps and other problems my wife had did not meet TRICARE/EXPRESS SCRIPTS criteria for approval. I guess they feel like unless a woman goes into anaphylactic shock, the negative reactions are not strong enough to cause them to want to pay a few dollars more to not have her suffer the side effects.

            Now, I am mad. I call the companies back and demand the name of the person(s) at Express Script that denied the pre-authorization. It is my full intention to sue them if my wife suffers any side-effects if in the end she relents and is forced to try the generic form of her medication. I will not permit that.

            I have informed these two companies that they have lost their minds; that my wife is not a guinea pig, that I will not have her risking the reactions that she had before, and that eventually they are going to give her the proper medications under our coverage. I informed them that I have sent a five-page letter, which I am certain that will never get beyond these politician's flunkies that screen their mail, but I sent the letters to the President, Senator Landrieu, Senator Vitter, Representative Rodney Alexander, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Senator John McCain, and former Governor Sarah Palin. I hope that one of them will at least get the word what a disaster this health care system for the military is now, and how much worse it will be under Obamacare when twenty or thirty million more people are pushed into the system at one fell-swoop, then the doctor's tell the plan to take a hike because they are constantly getting their fees cut and being forced to treat the patients according to some guideline that was drawn up by Washington bureaucrats rather than a plan agreed upon by doctor and patient.

            My wife received a letter today from Express Scripts telling her that the pre-authorization application did not meet TRICARE'S criteria, and that now we must go through what is known as a medical appeal (we'd already started this last week; we were told by one of the people that I screamed at while being told that, for all practical purposes, my wife would have to suffer life-threatening symptoms before they would approve the name-brand medication instead of the generic). My wife had to write a letter to her doctor giving the doctor the right to negotiate with TRICARE/EXPRESS SCRIPTS for her, and asking for the name brand medicine, and the Doctor would have to write a letter to them explaining the medical justification for the name-brand. So...my wife has to waste more time, the doctor has to waste more time, and some committee in St. Louis will decide the final outcome of the clinical appeal. Great!

             Think about what the decisions and policies that are in place now have told my wife and I:

·        You and your doctors can no longer decide what is the proper medication to treat you with; it will be decided by a person or committee that does not know you, and who is paid to minimize the expenditures required under your medical plan to provide you with a treatment plan, instead of paid to cure you or relieve your symptoms, and is governed by an anonymous individual or committee hundreds or thousands of miles away from your doctor and you, that has never met you.

·        Severe stomach cramps and other complications associated with a medication are not enough problems to justify providing your wife with a name brand medication that she has been on for years with NO complications.  Instead, you must take a generic medication that, the first time your wife took it, caused her severe stomach cramps and other complications, just so the government can save a few dollars on a prescription

·        When your wife’s nurse answers “no” to the question “Did she go into anaphylactic shock when she took the generic medication?” then her problems with it are not severe enough to justify the name brand medication.  Let’s see…does that mean that it takes a near-death reaction before the insurance company would think it justified to replace the generic with the name brand?

            Welcome to the world of government controlled medical care. The great social experiment is already in full force, and it stinks! If any of the readers are the recipients of this type of treatment under the government's plans, then I strongly suggest that you call and raise all sorts of a stink to your senators and representatives. Remember; if the wheel squeaks loud enough, somebody's going to put a little grease on it.

            My philosophy right not...kick every elected politician out of office and start over! Put term limits on them, make them live by the exact same plan(s) that we have to live under; no golden plans for politicians; cut their pay, pass a balanced budget amendment, repeal Obamacare at the earliest opportunity, and make them reduce the deficit by 15% per year until it is eliminated.

            Remember this, Thomas Jefferson said these words that have certainly come to pass over the last two hundred thirty-three years!:

"Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.", and...

"Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories." 

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The Press CAN Be Fair and Objective

For the last eight to nine years, I have had a letter to the editor published by The News Star at least once a month, and never had a problem like happened below. Then, in the shadow of the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords and numerous others, I commented on how the press was trying to blame vitriol spewed by conservatives towards liberals for the shootings. I tried to get the press to look at what the liberals said that caused the vitriol to be spewed so actively at them. When the News Star Press published the article, they assigned the title "Liberals bring shootings on selves".

Naturally, I was furious! That had nothing to do with what I said, but it sure created a firestorm of vicious comments towards me and conservatives because of it. When I complained, the News Star was very understanding and allowed me to write and then published my rebuttal.

This is what was said.

Liberals brought shooting on themselves
January 11, 2011

Much press is coming out trying to link the conservative movement and specifically Sarah Palin as causes for this maniac gunning down of the Arizona congresswoman and six others. They're bringing back up Sarah Palin's "cross-hairs" ad targeting certain districts for Republicans or tea party candidates to go after to win away from Democrats. The press is saying all the vitriol (harsh words) against the liberals is the cause.
Personally, I think the press needs to look deeper at why all this vitriol is being spewed towards liberals. They bring it on themselves. How about declaring the war in Iran and Afghanistan lost while our soldiers are still fighting over there (bet they wish they had kept their mouths shut there!). How about giving the rights of citizens to terrorists and illegal aliens. How about trying to put terrorists at Guantanamo on trial in civilian courts in New York City? How about Obama declaring that he wants to "spread the wealth" around (income redistribution). How about forcing people to buy health insurance who do not want it or need it, but exempting your political supporter organizations from it? The list is endless. Look in the mirror, liberals. Examine your own actions. You brought this down on yourselves with your misguided values. You created the situation that brings out the vitriol in God-fearing, freedom loving Americans. It is like saying the gun is evil when the truth is guns are just one of many tools evil people use to do evil things. When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have them.
Carey O'Neal
West Monroe


Liberals bring vitriol on selves
January 14, 2011

My last letter to the editor was miss-titled by The New Star's editorial staff. A more proper title to that letter would have been "Liberals bring vitriol on selves." The entire letter is an effort to get liberals to look at why so much vitriol (harsh words) are spewed at liberal politicians. I was attempting to get the press to focus more on what the liberals say and do that brings out the ire in conservatives, rather than their just trying to blame conservatives for things like this crazy man's shooting rampage.
I believe violence against innocents is not something anyone can bring on or against themselves. Only someone mentally disturbed, with no moral foundation or fear of God would do such a heinous act. The responsibility lies directly with that individual. They make a conscious decision to take somebody's life, and 99.9 percent of the time they do it knowing that it is wrong.
I especially appreciate The News Star's willingness to correct an error that hurt me badly, and allow me to print this correction/explanation. First, I would never say something so hurtful or stupid. Second, the title is not what I believe, and third, there are no facts to substantiate such a vicious assertion. It is just not something I would say, or believe. I have a lot of faults, but stupidity, blind hatred and support for wanton violence are not some of them. Our government is broken, but stupid violence like what happened in Tucson is not the fix.
Carey O'Neal
West Monroe

The Definition of Lunacy

Our President, Barack Obama, in my opinion, has become a raving, manical lunatic. I'm not the only one that calls him this, but I thought it might be helpful if I defined what, in my opinion, defines lunacy so that people will understand why I say what I say. So, here goes:
1.Lunacy is believing that, no how many times in the past the Federal Government has failed at trying to do something better than the private sector, just because the new President is "the anointed one", that this time it will work.
2. Lunacy is believing that by spending trillions of dollars and increasing the debt by anywhere from $9 Trillion to $11 Trillion dollars in the next ten years, government spending can save an economy from recession without causing runaway inflation.
3. Lunacy is believing that being nice to a religious fanatic like militant Islamic fundamentalists will keep them from killing Americans anytime they can.
4. Lunacy is believing that doing away with America's nuclear arms superiority will somehow protect the nation from a nuclear holacost, and that the other nuclear nations will actually agree and do as they promise when they say they will eliminate their nuclear arsenals if we do!
5.Lunacy is believing that a bureaucrat in Washington is better equipped to decide what type of health care an individual needs than the individual himself, or the individual's family is.
6. Lunacy is believing that by weakening the U.S. Military we can strengthen our national defense.
7. Lunacy is believing that the average American really believes that the President really believes he can generate enough savings from eliminating waste and abuse in the health care system to offset the additional $9 Trillion dollars in costs over the next ten years.
8. Lunacy is believing that the average America really does not believe that CAP and Trade's impact of increasing the average American's utility bill by $1700 to $3000 per year to pay for the carbon offsets that industry will have to buy under this bill is not really a tax.
9. Lunacy is believing that any American really believes that NOT drilling for additional oil reserves that we know we have is really a smart thing to do.
10. Lunacy is believing that Barack Obama is NOT the most flaming Socialist that American has ever elected to the office of President, and that he is not the most arrogant, dillusional, and corrupt individual in America at this time.
11. Lunacy is believing that political correctness such as demonstrated by the U.S. Post office printing a stamp honoring a Muslim holiday is NOT the most insulting, disingenuous, and blatantly insulting act of insensitivity to freedom loving Americans all over this nation, especially those in New York City who lost loved ones on 9/11.
12. Lunacy is allowing blatant liars and lunatics like Ahmadinejad and Muammar al-Gaddafi to even address the UN, much less ever trying to negotiate anything with them as long as they maintain their lunacy and militant ways.
13. Lunacy is ever believing that Iran's nuclear ambitions are ONLY designed for peaceful purposes.
14. Lunacy seems to me to be believing that Iran, Syria, Lybia, or any country that tolerates, houses, encourages, or even acknowledges that terrorism like that of the Islamic militants is anything but Satanic in nature, would ever agree to co-exist with Israel.
15. Lunacy is ever expecting Israel to stand by and allow Iran to gain nuclear weapons without doing anything required to stop it (I know I would stop it at all costs!)

Need I go on? I did not vote for him, but I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. But too many things have proven to me this man is a Lunatic and a cold, calculating, power-crazy politician. For example:
* His speech at the UN today where he attacked American, apologized for American, and sucked up to tyrants like Ahmadinejad and Muammar al-Gaddafi
* His blatant attack on free speech by allowing his Secretary of Health & Human Services to issue a cease and desist order against an insurance company (Humana) speaking out against his health care plan
* His demeaning attacks against those millions that have participated in the TEA parties and the Washington TEA Party gathering on 9/12

All these blatantly Anti-American acts have proven to me that this man could care less about the will of the people, and that he considers anyone that does not think like he does un-American, ignorant, and a bigot. Barack Obama will do more harm in the next four years than all Presidents combined in the last two hundred thirty years have done. And what is sad to me...there are about sixty million Americans that have been duped into believing that lying S.O.B. Bill Engval has it right; you just cannot fix stupid!

Nazis in the '30s; right wing extremeists today? I think NOT!

In World War II, the German Nazis took babies of Jewish families and swung them by their heels into brick walls to kill them. The German government under Hitler used their propaganda machine to lable the Jewish people "less than human". They segregated them into gettos and death camps and murdered them by the millions. The German people were convinced of the correctness of their beliefs by a massive attack and propaganda effort by that satanic cult called the Nazi party. They clung to the Nazis because they, by force, pulled Germany from the economic collapse caused by their defeat in World War I to a position of strength and economic power by the beginning of World War II. They, too, lost understanding of eternal truths and history and accepted tyrrany because they saw a significant improvement in their economic well being.

A story appeared in national newspapers yesterday spoke of the U.S. Government's Office of Homeland Security publishing a report that, according to The Associated and OneNews Now, "...links people with pro-life, anti-illegal immigration views, teachers of end-time prophecies, and veterans of war with "right-wing extremist" groups." It goes on to say that "...The report says right-wing extremism in the United states can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily "hate-oriented" and those that are mainly anti-government, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority or rejecting government authority entirely."

What is the state of our nation when, because a group of people disagree with the Federal Government's anti-Christian propaganda, disagree with the U.S. Supreme Court's legalizing the killing of unborn children upon demand, that support the Bible's definition of marriage that every civilized society for over five-thousand years has adopted, they are target by the government at "extremists", and a threat to national security?

My question is, why would anyone believe that a government that has done everything possible to destroy the Constitution as it was intended to be interpreted by the founding fathers deserve to be supported and allowed to continue to govern? That government is the scurge of the planet. It deserves to be overthrown; it deserves to be kicked out of governing decent, Christian people who believe in the sanctity of life, who believe in the Bible's definition of marriage, and who believe that this nation was truly founded as a Christian nation, and that it still is and still should be defined as a Christian nation that allows freedom of worship of God, not Satan.

Americans are going to wake up; either voluntarily, or by act of God. They are going to eventually realize that a nation that turns its back on God cannot endure. They are going to realize that there are consequences as a result of ungodly behavior, and those consequences are sometimes very painful, even when the offender(s) realize the error of their ways and seek forgiveness. Forgiveness is freely given to those whose hearts are truly sorry for their wrongdoings and who confess those wrongdoings. But forgiveness does not mean that the offenders no longer must suffer the consequences of their actions.

America is paying now for those wrongdoings, and it is only going to get worse before it gets better. The outcome is inevitable, but the pain can be greatly lessened if we simply abandon our sinful ways and go back to the beliefs that our founding fathers held to as they fought for our independence, then formed this republic and its constitution. THAT is the kind of change we need; not Mr. Obama's definition of change.

I am sad tonight-I fear my country is dying.

I love America. I wore the uniform of our military for twenty years, flew combat in Vietnam, and commanded a transportation company in the Army in Desert Storm. I have seen Europe, Asia, and the middle east, and I know for a fact that I live in the best nation on earth, at least right now I do.

But I am sad tonight, because I believe that America is going through a period of chastening by God for the way our nation has turned its back on Him for the last sixty years. Our government has confined His worship almost into isolation behind the walls of churches, and has banned His name from the public square. We elect a marketing slogan rather than an individual; we vote for whoever promises us the most "freebies", rather than an individual that will protect our liberties and defend our nation against its enemies. We are more concerned with our pocketbooks and 401k accounts than we are with soldiers fighting terrorism overseas to keep it off our shores.

We don't even put up the slightest resistance or show any real shock and disgust when he is mocked and cursed at by the likes of Bill Moyer and Kathy Griffin. Somehow, most American have been deluded into believing that a woman has a right to kill her unborn child and it not be called murder. We have come to believe that homosexuality, which God calls an abomination is OK, and that we should even legitimize it and elevate it to the same status as marriage between a man and a woman.

Paul wrote about this in the first century AD in his letter to the Romans. In the 1st chapter, he writes: "
God's Wrath Against Mankind
18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Sixty years ago, homosexuality was a crime against nature; sodomy was a crime against nature; soldies were dishonorably discharged when caught in the act. Adultry was extremely frowned upon, as was having a child out of wedlock and a man and a woman living together outside of marriage was scandalous.

Now, what was evil is good, and what was good is mocked and scorned and even considered evil by some. Speaking God's word if it condemns homosexuality is a hate crime punishable by prison, and our Constitution is looked upon as a "living" document whose interpretation needs to be updated in accordance with today's changing social traditions.

But this is NOT the way the founding fathers intended the Constitution to be interpreted. This is NOT the way the founding fathers intended Government to treat God; this is NOT the moral standards that our founding fathers new we should adhear to.

America has lost its way. Our government is a cesspool of socialist and marxists that think they were elected to parce out the taxpayer's money to their sponsors that got them elected. They think America is stupid enough to be bought by false promises that take from the rich and give to the lazy and non-productive. They think America can be kept so divided by continuing to create resentment among the different social, ethnic, and religious groups that we will not be able to come back together, unite, and bring America back together under the banner of a Christian nation ever again. And they might just be correct.

I have tried to keep the hope for these last years when I have seen our nation sink so low into depravity, but it is difficult. My only source of strength is God's promise as reflected in the Old Testament in 2 Chronicles 7:14, where God, through is prophet Jeremiah, tells Israel this: " if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

I know in our land there is a very large remnant of Christians that are doing just that; repenting of our sins, humbling ourselves before Christ, seeking the face of God, and praying that God will heal our land. Many of us know that our only real hope for America to be saved is that promise of God. And so, we pray, we get on our knees, we confess and repent of our sins, we seek the face of the Father, and we pray for our nation. And we fight; we speak the Word of God and pray that God's heart will be softened, and that he will heal our land.

But we wonder how long God can stand the putrid smell of our nation. We wonder how long God can withhold his hand of judgment against our nation when we continue to reject His word and His laws. We wonder how long God can hold off the chastisement of our nation in order to make us return to Him. We fear that since we did not remember the chastisement of 9/11, we fear what He might allow next, and we mourn for the loved ones and the fellow Americans that must suffer because of our nation's rebellion against God. And we grieve for our children and our children's children that must also suffer because of evil nation we have become. His word says that He will not be mocked. Throughout history, especially in times of prosperity and peace, nations have become arrogant and prideful and have succumbed to the lies of Satan that God was no longer needed; that God was dead; that their citizens, their government, and their businesses did not need God for protection or provision; that they could do it without God. And time and time again, God showed them that He was in control by bringing those nations to ruin or completely out of existance. I fear that America is going down that same path. And I feel powerless to do anything to change it.

And that is what scares me so bad. As POGO, that very wise little cartoon possum said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us!"

God help America. God bless America.