Celebrating while Remembering

 


The Declaration of Independence

07/04/1776
 When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitles them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of governments. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative Houses repeatedly for opposing with manly firmness his invasion on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without and convulsions within.


He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.


He has obstructed the administration of justice by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us in many cases of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to ren-der it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in general Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliance, establish commerce, and do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do. 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.



Signers of the Declaration of Independence
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
MASSACHUSETTS: John Hancock, John Adams, Samuel Adams, Robert Treat Paine
RHODE ISLAND: Elbridge Gerry, Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
CONNECTICUT: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
NEW YORK: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
NEW JERSEY: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
PENNSYLVANIA: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
DELAWARE: Ceasar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
MARYLAND: Samuel Chase, Thomas Stone, William Paca, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
VIRGINIA: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
NORTH CAROLINA: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
SOUTH CAROLINA: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Authur Middleton
GEORGIA: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

I Love This Stuff!!!

If this makes me a nerd, then, so be it! :)



Hon. Bob McEwen, Hon. Bob McEwen Townhall on USTREAM. Politics

Government's Goal of Education

I think it all boils down to your philosophy of what education truly is. That's why over the last several days, I hear Charlotte Mason's words ringing so clearly. She strived her entire career to define that question. What is Education? The fruit of her quest is what CMers continue to study and apply: "Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life." Her grounding belief that all children are born persons and are deserving of a rich education rings so true today. Just read her Educational Manifesto.

The government and public educators will tell you that happiness comes from getting a good education so you can get a good job and really "go somewhere" in your life. Most parents buy into to these goals of education. One of the true goals of American public education has always been to produce human resources for our workforce so America can compete in a global economy. It's all about money. Get a good education, so you can earn lots of money and pay your taxes. They preach that only money will make you rich and happy. But this is a false doctrine, a false gospel. I thought love of money is the root of all evil.

What about joy? What about contentment? What about being satisfied with doing a job well done? What about not joining the rat race, clawing your way to the top? Wouldn't you be lonely up there all by yourself? What good is it to own the world but be lonely and miserable because you spent all your time working rather than living? What about stopping to smell the roses?

How about investing your time in building relationships? We were created in the image of a triune God. We were created to have fellowship with Him. We were created to have a relationship with Him. Our cheif aim is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. As long as we are pursuing living an holy life before the face of God, do we really have to struggle to the top of man's ladder?

Sorry to be so long winded, I could go on and on but I know you have children to tend to, husbands to take care of, gardens to weed, music to listen to, life to enjoy. I am so glad I found Charlotte Mason's teachings. As I say over and over again, she was right !

"Our aim in Education is to give a Full Life."

~Charlotte Mason ( Volume 3, page 170)

Well Put, Spunky!

I think the outrage over the President speaking to the nation's children is very puzzling. Why, all of a sudden are parents getting so upset that they are willing to excersice parental authority and keep their children home the day of the speech? Why is having the President address our children so unacceptable? What is the difference between a guest speaker coming to address students in an assembly and the President of the United States addressing them via a televised speech?

Isn't it an honor to have the POTUS encourage our children to excel in their studies?? And why, if the public option of healthcare is so unacceptable, is the public option of government schools okay?

Just seems incongruent on so many levels. I personally don't mind if the President addresses my child. He is the President and bibically we are called to honor him. If we disagree, that could lead to a great discussion comparing and contrasting what he says with our own beliefs. One problem is that this is being done during school hours not during familytime. Therefore the replacement parents(teachers) will be the ones steering the discussion and perhaps echoeing ideas contray to our own.

I'm more worried about what is being taught in the 55-60 hours a week our children spend in a government school (plus the 55 hours they spend watching TV). If parents are afraid the POTUS is going to give our children wrong ideas about Socialism and Democracy, they should ask themselves some tough questions about why they allow their children to be in that socialist breeding environment in the first place. Is it because they do not believe they can teach their own children, gifted to them by God? Is it so they can pursue their own goals, dreams, desires, achievements outside of the family. Is it so they can live at a certain level of attainment, keeping up with the Joneses mentality? Why do we abdicate our parental authority to the schools and later scratch our heads when our children don't share our family values?

I think it all boils down to your philosophy of what education truly is. That's why over the last several days, I hear Charlotte Mason's words ringing so clearly. She strived her entire career to define that question. What is Education? The fruit of her quest is what CMers continue to study and apply: "Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life." Her grounding belief that all children are born persons and are deserving of a rich education rings so true today. Just read the Educational Manifesto.

The government and public educators will tell you that happiness comes from getting a good education so you can get a good job and really "go somewhere" in your life. Most parents buy into to these goals of education. One of the true, main goals of American public education has always been to produce human resources for our workforce so America can compete in a global economy. It's all about money. Get a good education, so you can earn lots of money and pay your taxes. They preach that only money will make you rich and happy. But this is a false doctrine, a false gospel. Love of money is the root of all evil.

What about joy? What about contentment? What about being satisfied with doing a job well done? What about not joining the rat race, clawing your way to the top? Wouldn't you be lonely up there all by yourself? What good is it to own the world but be lonely and miserable because you spent all your time working rather than living? What about stopping to smell the roses?

How about investing your time in building relationships? We were created in the image of a triune God. We were created to have fellowship with Him. We were created to have a relationship with Him. As long as we are pursuing living an holy life before the face of God, do we really have to struggle to the top of man's ladder?

Sorry to be so long winded, I could go on and on but I know you have children to tend to, husbands to take care of, gardens to weed, music to listen to, life to enjoy.

I am so glad I found Charlotte Mason's teachings. She was right over a hundred years ago.

"Our aim in Education is to give a Full Life."~CM

I like Spunky's perspective:

SpunkyHomeSchool:
What if?: "Friday, September 04, 2009
Conservatives rightly decry the 'public option' in Obamacare but annually choose the 'public option' when it comes to their child's education. But what if....

all the children of smart parents were “yanked off the premises” not just next Tuesday, but permanently. If this is the event that finally reveals to smart parents the truth of what this system is really all about, what if Sept. 8, 2009, marked the
first day of home-schooling for millions of American children? (Via Hot Air)

Obama's address to the nation's school children next Tuesday is
finally" .... Here's the rest of the story

Parentalrights.org --

Please take amoment to view this video. Afterwards, please sign the petition and forward this to all your liberty-loving parent friends.

Parentalrights.org --

Shared via AddThis

Then watch this video lest you think opposing the UN-CRC is not that important:




"Every parent, every American citizen should be concerned." Mike Huckabee

Not Just Another Secular American Holiday

"The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations."

George Washington

Many major websites and encyclopedias identify the Fourth of July as "America's biggest secular holiday," and the dictionary defines "secular" as "pertaining to things that are not regarded as religious, spiritual, or sacred." However, the actual events leading up to America's birthday were anything but secular.

How to Celebrate the Fourth of July:

Here's some ideas from WallBuilders

1. Take time to honor and thank God on the Fourth – make it a day celebrated "with solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty." (as recommended by John Adams)
2. Read the Declaration of Independence. Knowing the reasons for our founding is no less important today than it was 233 years ago.
3. This is a flag-waving time of the year, so review the fascinating account surrounding Francis Scott Key's writing of the Star-Spangled Banner. You can view a 7-minute video of that inspiring narrative, or download it to show at your church next Sunday.
4. Read John Quincy Adams' famous 1837 Fourth of July oration.

This post is taken from an email I received from WallBuilders. Great site for learning the true history of our great nation. I could not find this article on their extensive site, please know that is where this post came from.

Poetry to My Ears

Continued here...

And for a special FREE treat, you can download the audio and listen to it every year.

Constitution Lesson

The circus show continues in Hollywood, averting attention from more serious matters. The next installment of my Constitutional study is extremely applicable and should be carefully studied by each voting, tax-paying member of our union.

Article III. the Judicial Branch:

Section 1 - Judicial powers

The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

Section 2 and 3 can be read online here.

Then read this excerpt from The Federalist Papers, No. 78, entitled:

The Judges as Guardians of the Constitution.

It proves incontestably, that the judiciary is beyond comparison the weakest of the three departments of power1; that it can never attack with success either of the other two; and that all possible care is requisite to enable it to defend itself against their attacks. It equally proves, that though individual oppression may now and then proceed from the courts of justice, the general liberty of the people can never be endangered from that quarter; I mean so long as the judiciary remains truly distinct from both the legislature and the Executive. For I agree, that

"there is no liberty, if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers."2 And it proves, in the last place, that as 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;

(emphasis mine) that as all the effects of such a union must ensue from a dependence of the former on the latter, notwithstanding a nominal and apparent separation; that as, from the natural feebleness of the judiciary, it is in continual jeopardy of being overpowered, awed, or influenced by its co-ordinate branches; and that as nothing can contribute so much to its firmness and independence as permanency in office, this quality may therefore be justly regarded as an indispensable ingredient in its constitution, and, in a great measure, as the citadel of the public justice and the public security.

Read the entire paper written by Alexander Hamilton in 1788 on the Judicial Department.

Next Lesson: The United States Constitution - The Executive Branch

The United States Constitution - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net:

"Article II - The Executive Branch
Section 1 - The President
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:" (Read more here)

Government of a Nation Begins at Home...

"The family is the unit of the nation."

This little quote by F.D. Maurice is full of implications concerning the parental role, which Charlotte proceeds to flesh out. She begins by discussing the pro's and con's of communitstic societies, pointing out that all through history these types of cooperative societies, where members have all things in common, have arisen for the sake of a great work, social or religious reasons and more recently (in her time--early 20th century) as a "protest against inequalities of condition" (P&C.,p.4). She points out that while we may be quick to dismiss this form of government, many well-regulated cooperative bodies have flourished. Many have failed miserably, and the cause she concludes, is due to a "government enfeebled by the attempt to combine democratic and communistic princles; to dwell together in a common life, while each does what is right in his own eyes." (p.4).

Europe has long dreamed of a society where each State would be divided into small communes. Charlotte, probably smiling as she wrote this, then points out what apparently is too obvious to see, that these communes already exist. Each family is in itself a small commune. Each family shares undivided property. Each family shares a common social condtition. Each family has diversity in duties to help it function properly. Sometimes families band together in tribes with a sovereign chief.

Familes today are generally small or extended family lives far away; however, this does not diminish the force or power of the family. Leslie Laurio paraphrased this portion well: "We don't see that this natural commune is the unit that our country is built with, and we fail to realize that the family, like any commune, needs to fulfill all the duties of the government with the same kind of delicacy, exactness and detailed thoroughness that are suitable for any small operation." (P&C in Modern English, p.5)

The Separation of Powers

I think its high time we, as citizens of the United States of America, actually revisit some of our founding documents to remind us or perhaps learn for the first time, exactly what we are apparently letting slip through our fingers.

From The Federalist, Number 48: The Separation of Powers II written by James Madison aka "Publius" between 1787-1788.

"It is agreed on all sides, that the powers properly belonging to one of the departments ought not to be directly and completely administered by either of the other departments. It is equally evident, that none of them ought to possess, directly or indirectly, and overruling influence over the others, in the administration of their respective powers. It will not be denied, that power if of an encroaching nature, and that it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it. After discriminating, therefore, in theory, the several classes of power, as they may in their nature be legislative, executive or judiciary, the next and most difficult task is to provide some practical security for each, against the invasion of the others. What this security ought to be, is the great problem to be solved."

For your self education enjoyment I present: Article I - The Legislative Branch

A Salute To Our U.S. Constitution

By Chuck Baldwin
September 17, 2008

On this date in 1787, the U.S. Constitution was adopted. 39 delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies (Rhode Island did not send a representative) affixed their signatures to the greatest civil document ever conceived by men. Famous patriots such as George Washington, Roger Sherman, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, Gouverneur Morris, James Madison, George Clymer, and Abraham Baldwin were among this gallant group.

Under divine Providence, it has been allegiance to the Constitution that has preserved our liberties and protected our very way of life. Most of the problems, failings, and frustrations that plague our nation today are due to the propensity of our civil magistrates to ignore or blatantly abuse constitutional government. Accordingly, fidelity to the Constitution would likely repair most of the damage done by this neglect.

It is the responsibility of a free people to jealously guard the principles upon which their liberties are predicated. For citizens of these United States, the principles that duly protect our liberties are contained in the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence. Therefore, it is incumbent upon every American to studiously familiarize himself with these documents.

Furthermore, it is the duty of every American to stubbornly hold their elected representative, at every level of government, accountable to his or her oath to the Constitution. The U.S. Constitution is the contract that every civil magistrate makes with "We the People." Failure of an elected representative to fulfill that oath to the Constitution should be met with swift and certain rejection by the people at the polls. Nothing else should matter. Republican or Democrat, man or woman, black or white, believer or unbeliever: it is the responsibility of every civil magistrate to submit to the restrictions and instructions of the Constitution.

Our Constitution (along with the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence) was formed, framed, and founded upon the eternal principles contained in Natural Law, which proceeds forth from man's Creator and Redeemer. No people in human history have ever been so blessed as the people of the United States to inherit such a legacy. Such a heritage serves only to heighten our own responsibility, as "unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required."

On this Constitution Day of 2008, may this generation of Americans live up to its responsibility to valiantly bequeath to our posterity the same legacy of freedom that was so bravely and miraculously bequeathed to us. For the sake of freedom, for the love of our children, and for the safety and security of our republic, may each of us determine for ourselves--and commit to Almighty God--to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."