“Terrifying” Ten Commandments

Despite the common display of religious symbols and the open practice of religion throughout the first 150 years of our nation, there are groups who are fighting to cancel Christianity.

This great law does not arise from our conventions or compacts; on the contrary, it gives to our conventions and compacts all the force and sanction they can have. It does not arise from our vain institutions. Every good gift is of God; all power is of God; and He who has given the power, and from whom alone it originates, will never suffer the exercise of it to be practised upon any less solid foundation than the power itself.

Edmund Burke

Introduction

Many people have rejected God and religion; thus, problems proliferate. The battles in our courts in the last 70 years give testimony to this fact. Furthermore, the people at large in the past would not have tolerated today’s shenanigans.

We were never a “Christian nation” in the sense that our government was or should ever be a theocracy. Despite the effort to cancel our heritage from history books, most of those who settled and built our nation were Christians. Also, Judeo-Christian precepts formulated our founding laws. See Frederick R. Smith Speaks Our Endowed Rights and The Treaty of Tripoli. By falling away from our heritage, we are an ailing society, and the symptoms include:

• Unfettered entry of “undocumented visitors” (or the term of the week)

• Open promotion of violence in the entertainment media

• Aceptance and glorification of debauchery

• Stinky Socialist Schools

• Trade deficits in the billions

• The blurring of right and wrong

• Acceptance of abortion as nothing more than the removal of a boil to include snuffing out the life of a baby as it departs the birth canal

• A divorce rate of 50 percent plus

• Outright hatred of our history

• Inane desire to transition gender (an impossibility)

• Culture of death

• Government declaration stating that those who question the “narrative” are enemies of the state

• Debased monetary system due to the creation of money out of thin air (see Frederick R. Smith Speaks Creature from Jekyll Island)

Under God Unconstitutional

In 2016, we saw Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore removed from the bench. As a precursor, in 2003 he placed the Ten Commandments in the Alabama State Judicial Building in Montgomery. A few decades ago, Judge Moore’s behavior would be expected and go unnoticed. There are many displays of the Ten Commandments throughout the nation. The Supreme Court has Moses and the Ten Commandments chiseled into stone walls. Like the calls to remove “In God We Trust” from our money, there will be demands to remove the commandments from the highest court in the nation. Here is the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “unbiased” opinion of Judge Moore:

On September 30, 2016, the Alabama Court of the Judiciary suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore for the remainder of his term for defying federal court rulings in regard to same-sex marriage. It was the culmination of a judicial career spanning 25 years in which he often put his personal views above the law and the U.S. Constitution, frequently bringing religion into the courtroom and basing judicial opinions on his Biblical beliefs. He was also removed from office in 2003 for disobeying a federal court order to remove a granite monument to the Ten Commandments from the state judicial building.

As illustrated above, there is an ever-increasing assault on the simple expression of the Christian religion in our nation. The Constitution forbids Congress from establishing a religion. The Constitution does not call for a “wall of separation” between the government and faith. The founders knew that the belief in God manifested through religion was indispensable to secure the nation’s future.

Displays of religious symbols and the open practice of faith occurred throughout the first 150 years of our nation. Groups are now fighting to remove all vestiges of faith and God from society. Players include the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Nevertheless, they say nothing about the Muslim theocracies around the world.

The principal issue is the notion of local government acknowledging God. Is that a violation of the supposed wall of separation between church and state? Is any display of a religious symbol by a state or the Federal government an intrinsic establishment of a religion? No, as the mere mention of God or the acknowledgment of a Deity does not constitute any form of religion whatsoever.

Those who recoil in the horror of the mention of God in the public square will also say this is offensive to people who are atheists. Some deists, agnostics, gnostics, polytheists, and pagans will also say that they feel excluded. In more sane times, this minority would not suffer during any public mention of God at venues like an invocation during a graduation ceremony. Jewish people would not mind because that religion is the root of Christianity.

It is fitting to ask about the private expression of religion. For example, what does an atheist do when attending a wedding ceremony? Does this person not attend the church ceremony? If such a person would choose to participate in the reception, what should they do when a minister or priest says a prayer before a meal? Next on the chopping block; cities and streets with saint’s names?

A sensible person does not leave the building during a prayer. They respect the desire of others to pray. Your Author has attended a Jewish wedding and respected their beautiful traditions as a Christian. In contrast, employees faced termination for wearing Christian jewelry.

Today, we must face the fact that there is an influential coterie of individuals who make a living at building up a Worshiped Wall of Separation. They go after any activities that could be a supposed link between the Christian religion and “the state.” How often do these people clamor about religions other than Christian in the public square? The answer is self-evident. The reason is in the wind.

What about private religious activities on public property? As an example, may a family use a town hall to have their wedding reception along with a simple prayer before a meal? What if this same town hall is available to all other groups? Is this not discrimination if the family is not permitted to invoke grace at the town hall? How about imposing a fee for families that desire to pray and no fees for secular ones? That would be plain and simple bigotry. That is one example of many.

Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity by David Limbaugh is excellent. This posting from Amazon.com is by a person who does not like Limbaugh’s book, and it illustrates the disdain and disbelief of the secular humanists:

Right-wing Paranoia hits a new low, October 22, 2003 Reviewer: William R. Oliver from Crittenden, KY USA Let’s see now - every major institution in this country is populated by Christians as the vast majority, including the courts, yet somehow these same Christians are persecuting the Christian church. Makes sense, doesn’t it? No, what we have in Mr. Limbaugh’s silly book is a few examples of goofy over-reaction - not public policy - to our long-cherished tradition of the separation of church and state. It takes a very paranoid viewpoint to hold that this represents a national trend or a danger to Christians. Selling it to a gullible public requires some real chutzpah (forgive the word, Christians). But then, his last name is Limbaugh, isn’t it?

Here we have a classic example of guilt by association due to that writer’s aversion to David’s brother, the late Rush. David is much more of a thinker and cerebral. We must ask, does the brother of somebody have the same temperament and intellect? It sure appears that Mr. Oliver believes this to be true.

It is necessary to analyze the case of Judge Moore to understand the assault. On August 1, 2001, Alabama State Chief Justice Moore placed a 5,200-pound monument in the Alabama State Judicial Building dome. This stone obelisk of the Ten Commandments also contains inscriptions of our founding documents. By October 2001, plaintiffs had filed two separate lawsuits against Chief Justice Moore. The above three “players” represented the plaintiffs. They charged that the display of the Ten Commandments is unconstitutional and “offensive.” This case festered until U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ordered the monument’s removal in August 2003.

Judge Moore did not heed the words of his colleagues to remove the display. Authorities moved it away from the public area to a hidden place in the building. Justice Moore and his attorneys appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and in early November 2003, this highest court in the land decided not to hear this case. This argument is the ultimate clashing of two worldviews. That is postmodern secular humanism and Christianity.

To illustrate the divide in the county over this issue, back then, Your Author had the opportunity to watch Justice Moore on a CSPAN call-in show. The callers were for and against, and one person was “terrified” of Judge Moore. The Judge said that he is not imposing any particular religion or wishes to do so. He only wanted to judge by the good precepts that are the foundation of our nation.

Judeo Christian Theism

There are many variations of Christianity, which is an interesting study. The similarities are the glue of western civilization. Despite today’s secular humanism, Christianity is an integral component of our laws and our way of life.

Of course, the Founders did not agree on every element of theology. Nevertheless, in 1776 they declared “We hold these truths to be self-evident… that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Additional theistic assertions by the Founders include:

• John Adams, on October 11, 1798, was recorded to have addressed the military by saying “Our Constitution is made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

• George Washington, in 1787 at the beginning of the Constitutional Convention, said “the event is in the hands of God!” He also penned the Proclamation of 1789 that created the Thanksgiving Holiday. He stated, “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.” On September 19, 1796, during his farewell address, George Washington said, “And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion.” In 1797, Washington wrote, “Religion and morality are the essential pillars of society.”

• Dr. Benjamin Rush, a Pennsylvanian who signed the Declaration of Independence, wrote in 1788 “I do not believe the Constitution was the offspring inspiration, but I am perfectly satisfied that the United States, in its form and adoption, is as much the work of a Divine Providence as any of the miracles recorded in the Old and New Testaments were the effects of a divine power… [the Federal and state constitutions were] the best repositories of the Gospel: I, therefore, suppose they are intended as preludes to a glorious manifestation of its power and influence upon the hearts of men.” In 1789, he further wrote, “I have always considered Christianity as the strong ground of republicanism. The spirit is opposed, not only to the splendor, but even to the very forms of monarchy, and many of its precepts have for their objects republican liberty and equality as well as simplicity, integrity, and economy in government. It is only necessary for republicanism to ally itself to the Christian religion to overturn all the corrupted political and religious institutions of the world.”

The Founders never intended the First Amendment to the Constitution to be a disconnect. That is, a complete severance between government and Christianity, nor was it intended to remove God from public life. The concept of separating church and civil government is implicit in Scripture. In the New Testament, we are to “render … unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21, King James Version). Also, the Ten Commandments say the church and government to be different institutions. The first four, provided for in the church, involve our obligation to our loving Creator (e.g., “thou shalt have no other gods before me”). The other six, the foundation of civil society, involve our duties to each other (e.g., “thou shalt not steal”).

This Judeo-Christian theist perspective places God at the center. It is “Under God” or “in God We Trust” but separated from the government because God and government serve different functions. An accurate concept of separation recognizes the distinction between God and civil government. Federal and state governments can acknowledge God without violating the establishment clause. Judeo-Christian precepts provided the moral basis and educational framework for our nation. Today, the mere mention of God is akin to “establishing a religion.”

Secular Humanism

Postmodern secular humanism places man at the top and center. It replaces God with humanity. That results in a separation between God and public life that our founders wanted to avoid. They gave us the notion that separating church and state is not the same as separating God and state. Copious legal documents from the past 70 years no longer recognize this fundamental distinction.

Humanists will never admit that their worldview is the result of materialism. Like the many Christian sects and denominations, there are many modern philosophies. That gave birth to secular humanism and postmodernism. It has roots in the enlightenment of the 17th Century and current versions of materialism. That denies the existence of a Supreme Being. They believe the universe is self-creating and human beings sprang from a natural process.

Our postmodern secular humanist friends harp on the wrong things done under the name of religion. Yes, there were terrible things and continue to be bad things perpetrated under the banner of religion. It is prudent to ask, what bad side of a monotheist religion today seems to attract the most terrorists? Nevertheless, we must invoke the law to punish any illegal acts under the banner of any religion. The humanists seem to forget the overarching bad occurring due to the opposite of faith. The atheistic system of Communism was responsible for the largest extermination of people in history. That is the extermination of approximately 100 million non-combatant people.

This postmodern secular worldview permeates schools at all levels. It is all we hear from the media (news and entertainment), our legal system, and every remaining element of society. That explains the attacks against Mel Gibson for producing an epic - The Passion of Christ. All the while, Hollywood continues to make gut-wrenching trash daily, and we hear nothing. Many of the entertainment industry elitists worked overtime to try to block Gibson. He rallied against the postmodern secular humanist grain. Those who say violent movies do not influence people are the same duplicitous people who say that Gibson’s film will spurn anti-Semitism.

Today, what is the real power in the country? What is the supreme authority? Unfortunately, we are surrendering our responsibility to God, but we are also abandoning the Constitution. There is a growing number of court cases where judges are not allowing any mention of the Constitution. How is it that the once supreme law of the land is no longer? Because it is a “living breathing Constitution.” Activist judges and liberal legal eagles debase the meaning of elements such as the First and Second Amendments.

Tyranny bears its ugly head when men lust for power. With the elimination of God and the debasing of the Constitution, we have the perfect ingredients for unbridled passion. To wit, the medical tyranny we live under today. The once held precept of God’s Providence and the limitation of the Constitution have given way to moral relativism. A limited government flourishes when citizens live morally. With this concept, society filters out corrupt politicians.

How do individuals control vices? Through a traditional family unit and orthodox religion, not the government. We have seen the conventional family under attack (e.g., easy divorce and the sexual confusion nexus). We must remember that freedom cannot be the license to do whatever we please. Unfettered freedom will cause liberty to become extinct, and anarchy or “big brother” will replace it. The state replaces parental care with such things as “No Child Left Behind.” The state is not only a substitute for mom and dad, but it is becoming the cradle to the grave caregiver. Nasty Nanny State Nanny Care will never replace the love and compassion of a real family. Also, see Frederick R. Smith Speaks Collectivist of the Year Award.

Red Skelton’s Hope

In retrospect, the following is from Red Skelton, which he presented on his television show on January 14, 1969:

Red said:

Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country, and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance: “under God.” Wouldn’t it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer, and that would be eliminated from schools too?

Considering all of the above, it is no mere coincidence that the moral slide down in this nation has coincided with the ever-increasing secularization of society. Mr. Oliver (the above Amazon reviewer), is all of this “right-wing paranoia?” 

If the postmodern secular humanists do indeed succeed in molding the vast majority of the people into their twisted worldview, Your Author will never give up and wave the white flag. It is more desirable to fight the good struggle to the bitter end rather than surrender. My solemnly sworn duty and responsibility to the good Lord our God; peacefully resist and expose these problems, which are the symptoms of the evil one. Please remember that Satan’s grand plan is to make people believe he does not exist. Manifested on an earthly level, we, the people, are the target in psychological warfare of the most sinister kind.

Finally, Your Author had the pleasure and honor to be in the audience of one of Late Great Red Slekton’s last public appearances. As he would say, “May God Bless.”

RIP Red, my friend - 1913-1997.

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Cogent author and publisher, Frederick R. Smith