Daily Verse | Hosea 13:6
When I fed them, they were satisfied;
when they were satisfied, they became proud;
then they forgot me.
On the weekly merry-go-round we arrive once more at Friday. Please dismount and exit on the far side of the ride.
In yesterday’s commentary I suggested that there were some other things I think we can do to resist the collapse of the United States as we know it. Certainly prayer and the other six activities recommended by Doug Wilson are central to preparing and, perhaps, surviving the fall of “the last, best hope of earth.”
When our Founders decided to separate from Great Britain, they wrote in the Declaration of Independence a list of the grievances they had against the British crown, i.e. King George III. Here is how the declaration introduces the list.
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 Government. 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.
“A long train of abuses and usurpations” refers to the regular violation of the colonists’ rights, including taxation without representation, cutting off the colonists’ ability to trade, keeping a standing army in the colonies and not allowing fair trials. The declaration goes on to repeat the claim that “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.”
I would dare say that we are now back at that stage in our current historical moment, the only difference being that the seat of “federal” government in 1776 was on the other side of the ocean. Today, it sits in Washington, D.C. and sounds an awful lot like what is described as “having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.”
Jefferson and the drafting committee wrote up a list of 27 “Facts” they would submit “to a candid world” as proof of their complaints. Listen to some of these and tell me this isn’t déjà vu all over again.
“He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.” Laws like keeping our borders secure and allowing oil processing and coal mining to proceed uninterrupted, to name just a couple.
“He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.” Using pressure tactics or bribery or direct threats to gain compliance is as old as King George III. Anybody remember who said, “Ultimately, I’m confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically-elected congress”?
“He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.” Internal Revenue Service, anyone? The FBI? Department of Justice? Department of Education? Do they not “harrass our people”?
“He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.” Can you say Mark Milley-Vanillie?
“For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:” Do you consent to all of the taxes the government imposes on you? In addition to income taxes, there are hidden fees, surcharges, sales taxes and service charges that add up to $657.5 billion in hidden taxes that Americans pay each year. How about the House trying to pass $3.5 TRILLION in new spending? Guess how that will be funded.
“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.” Domestic insurrections like antifa and Burn, Loot, Murder, Inc. and the invasion of inhabitants across our borders from all manner of places that do not understand or care about freedom who will destroy “all ages, sexes and conditions.”
In order to justify not just resisting, but actively fighting back, we need to make our case before “a candid world” and nation. Not that our domestic enemies would care or even be able to comprehend the purpose of such a document. They’d see it as disobedience and fly into a rage, just like King George III. But we need to have something that gives us a framework for seeing the situation clearly and provides a common justification for any action we take.
Someone has to do it, and perhaps we can start with the short list above, tying it back to our Founding and taking Jefferson’s words to heart, “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.”
Have a good weekend.