By Jason Charles on 1/4/2016 (8 years 336 days ago) Theology & Religion
In the summer of 1776 when the Second Continental Congress came together and finally decided that they had no other recourse but to commission Thomas Jefferson to write up the first draft of the Declaration of Independence there was only three things to consider. One, was God on their side? Two, did they have sufficient arms? And Three, was there enough men in the colonies with enough guts to put their lives on the line toward the cause of liberty? The answer to all three of these questions in the minds of the 12 out of the 13 colonies that voted in favor of the signing of the Declaration of Independence was an emphatic yes. If any one of these three components were lacking the vote would have failed, the resolution would have been struck down, and British tyranny would of marched on unabated to this very day.
Fast forward to our modern era, we can say without hyperbole that we are in the very same situation the founding generation was in. Meaning we are once again having to ask this same question. Do we, the people of the United States have the guts, the guns and God's blessing to overthrow a relentless tyranny hell bent on destroying our freedoms in this county? To answer these questions let's look at each in reverse order.
Guts
The weekend news cycle was again dominated by headlines focused on a stand-off with armed protestors and federal agents in Oregon over the abuse of BLM land management and authority. CNN reports,
"What started Saturday as a rally supporting two local ranchers led to a broader anti-government protest and now the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge building near Burns. "We will be here as long as it takes," protest spokesman Ammon Bundy told CNN by phone from inside the refuge. "We have no intentions of using force upon anyone, (but) if force is used against us, we would defend ourselves." Bundy, 40, is the son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who drew national attention in 2014 after staging a standoff with federal authorities. And like his father, Bundy said he is standing up to the federal government over land rights." (CNN)
Whether or not the government was justified in the arrest of the two ranchers is yet to be seen, but what is abundantly clear is there is a growing animosity towards federal encroachment on the rights of the people. So much so more people are willing to put their lives on the line protesting and even arming themselves in the face of federal tyranny. This trend can only mean in the minds of millions of Americans the federal government and the militarized police force have become the biggest threat facing not only our liberties but now our families and lively hoods. What kind of abuses could possible warrant people with families putting their lives on the line to thwart government tyranny?
If we use the Declaration of Independence as an example we see that Thomas Jefferson listed out 27 "long train of abuses" that merited the separation from the rule of King George III. The first 12 abuses demonstrated how the British monarch obstructed local representative government in favor of tyrannical ministers who constantly interfered with legislation and colonial rule. 13-22 described instances where trade was shut off, taxes levied, legislation denied, and even how troops were being quartered in the houses of colonists. The last 5 of the 27 abuses listed military and police violence against their homes, families, townships and systems of commerce. All of these abuses are happening today in communities across America. Without question our political system has been obstructed by massive corporate lobbies and financial interests, our ability to legislate on behalf of our local interest is non-existent, the middle class has been taxed into poverty, the militarized police are conducting almost 50,000 SWAT raids a year resulting in the destruction of property and lives, and worse the government has paid NSA agents being quartered in our very phones tracking all we say and do.
Unlike disgraced Marine Montel Williams who called for the mass murder of the Oregon protesters on his twitter account, Americans are finding it easier to stand up against tyranny, why? Because they have nothing left to lose, the Government has taken it all. When Government encroaches into a person's abode, lively hood, and ability to defend ourselves and families from harm you had better believe that the game begins to change. Whether you are talking about communities persecuted by militarized police like Ferguson or rural ranchers trying to eek out a living among constant attacks and thefts by federal agencies the overreach and oppression has just served to embolden the men in this country towards a fight. If you ignore all the sissy/state-loving leftist talk, what you are end up with is a growing angst and animosity from people who have felt the pinch of tyranny and are willing to stand up and do something about it, including arming themselves for a fight. I would say that we indeed have the guts judging by the ongoing community revolts that have sprung up around the country in recent years. We can win as long as we all, black, white, and brown can stay focused on who the enemy truly is, the federal government, and not be turned against one another. You can bank on the fact this strategy of tension among races and religions in this country is also a federally orchestrated means of control, a trap we mustn't fall into if we wish to win our liberties back.
Like the Founders that went before us, we too must gage whether we have the guts to mount a defense of our liberties.
Guns
God may be the granter of natural rights, but he expects us to be their enforcers, and if we are to be the enforcers than we must be sufficiently armed to the same degree as a would be oppressor.
Though the general citizenry of the United States doesn't have tanks, shoulder mounted rockets, grenades, bombers, drones and nuclear ICBM we do have the guns and we do have the numbers. According to the FBI guns flew off the shelves in record numbers in 2015,
"The FBI reported Monday that the agency conducted a total of 23,141,970 checks last year, eclipsing the previous record of nearly 21.1 million checks set in 2013." (Washington Times)
Our founding generation understood that any able bodied man or woman willing to fire a gun in protection of their life, family and liberties by default where consider a part of the militia. Which is every gun owner in these United States. You simply do not purchase a firearm without cause, proper training and contemplating the appropriate time and use of a weapon. When you couple this fact with the number of guns in this country you end up with an effective deterrent of federal usurpation of power. If there was any one thing the founding generation would have been infinitely proud of it's the fact that we continue to stock pile guns in the face of government tyranny.
“The militia, who are in fact the effective part of the people at large, will render many troops quite unnecessary. They will form a powerful check upon the regular troops, and will generally be sufficient to over-awe them.” — Tench Coxe, An American Citizen, Oct. 21, 1787
There is no way the government can get the population to turn in their firearms, the only way they could mount such an audacious act is to have some doped up, thug cops go door to door and confiscate them, and they simply do not have numbers nor do they have the stomach for the repercussions such actions will bring. I am confident we still have enough guns to enforce the will of the people if necessary.
God
The most important variable and also the most questionable in the God, Guns, and Guts equation is do we have God on our side? The founders did, they were educated in the principles of Natural Law, they understood that submission to an unlawful tyranny was un-Bblical and even the most un-Christian among them still gave the God of the Bible His due honor. Such as Ben Franklin who initiated prayer in the Congress.
"All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of superintending providence in our favor. To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance? I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth-that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the Ground without his Notice, is it probable that an Empire can rise without his Aid?"
Benjamin Franklin, To Colleagues at the Constitutional Convention
and also Thomas Jefferson who called on God's protection of divine providence in the closing of the Declaration of Independence,
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
The rest of the founders were unabashedly Christian, in word and deed. The fact is the Christian religion not only served as a common glue among the colonists, it is also where they derived their authority, reasoning, and moral foundation for the separation from the British monarchy. This understanding is lost on the American culture which has gone to great lengths to rid itself of God in its schools, public institutions and arguably even the churches considering the vast majority of them have forsaken profound Biblical teaching in regards to life and the defense of liberty. Fortunately for us the vast majority of those that have the guns and the guts in this country are also God fearing Christians.
In closing despite all of the horrible atrocities against the Constitution and the American people perpetrated by the federal government we have a lot going for us in this county. We still have guts and we still have the guns. One thing remains to be seen and that is do we still have God? Sir William Blackstone in his commentaries on Law gave us a revealing look into God's character as to how we determine His providence on our nation. It comes down to two things, educating ourselves on His laws both revealed in scripture and the laws of nature, and whether or not we honor our creator as the Genesis of all things. If we can correct this one thing in our country, the Revolution of 1776 assures us that we too can bring this country back into the grace of God and afford our own posterity the liberties that the founders gave us. For more like this sign-up for our newsletter that runs every Tuesday.
"Man, considered as a creature, must necessarily be subject to the laws of his Creator, for he is entirely a dependent being....And, consequently, as man depends absolutely upon his Maker for everything, it is necessary that he should in all points conform to his Maker's will...this will of his Maker is called the law of nature. These laws laid down by God are the eternal immutable laws of good and evil...This law of nature dictated by God himself, is of course superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all times: no human laws are of any validity if contrary to this..."
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"The doctrines thus delivered we call the revealed or divine law, and they are to be found only in the holy scriptures...[and] are found upon comparison to be really part of the original law of nature. Upon these two foundations, the law of nature and the law of revelation, depend all human laws; that is to say, no human laws should be suffered to contradict these."
Sir William Blackstone
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