As you all know, we just concluded Part 1 of reaffirming our republic. Part 2 occurs in just two short years.
First, let me apologize to everyone I am going to offend.
“Well, Ben, how can you be sure people will be offended?”
Well, if you don’t like truth, you will be offended; if you don’t like the individual pursuit of happiness without government assistance or mandate, you will be offended; if you don’t like political incorrectness, you will be offended; and, finally, if you don’t honestly love America, you will most assuredly be offended.
While I know some people reading this may disagree with me, here is just one more thing I love about America: You don’t have to agree with me. You have the legitimate constitutional right to be wrong.
As most of you are aware, there is a plan or movement – call it what you will – to remove every vestige of Christianity and the influence of our Judeo-Christian God from American history and from the modern political landscape, along with many of our constitutional liberties.
They can label me a religious fanatic if they want (I’ve been called worse), but I am going to quote the Bible, and I would hazard a guess that there are quite a few people reading this who still believe passionately in the Creator mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. (Can I get an “Amen!” for the Creator?)
Let me inform some, shock some and remind others: The Bible is not a religious book. It was never meant to be one. The Bible is a book of transcendent principles.
The Founding Fathers had a revolutionary concept in mind for America. They called it a republic. I call it “you da man.” Let me tell you why I believe “you da man” is what the Founding Fathers had in mind, as well.
In Genesis, we find this remarkable event: “And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof”(Genesis 2:19). The actual translation for Adam is “the man.” So, let’s read it that way: “…and whatsoever {the man} called it, that was the name of it” – and that is what it is called today. But here’s the real deal: God, the ultimate Sovereign, the final authority, endowed “the man,” Adam, with the power to act, establish boundaries and principles.
Fast-forward to today. Who is “da man” today? The president? Senators? Congressmen? The boss? Some judge? An attorney? A doctor? A cop? “The man” is whomever “We the People” ascribe, assign or endow with authority.
The Preamble to the Constitution, and I quote: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Read that again, carefully. The Founding Fathers endowed the American public, who in our form of government (a republic) is the ultimate sovereign, with the authority to have the government act in/on its behalf. That is critical. On whose behalf are they authorized to act? Ours! Perhaps we do not recognize ourselves? Again, the sovereign in our republic, the United States of America, is “We the People.”
In our system of government, just because we call someone a congressman instead of a cook or a senator instead of servant does not mean they do not work for us. They don’t inherit those titles by divine right; we bestow those titles on them. They are “public servants.” We are the public, and they are the servants. If we don’t like the job they are doing, we fire them. We call this process “elections.”
They have the privilege, not divine right, of promoting the general welfare. By the way, that doesn’t mean government handouts. In America, there are no emperors for life, no succession of royalty by bloodline. The whole point being, the Founders intended that “We the People” be in charge. As proof of their intent, they established the 2-4-6 rule: Every 2-4-6 years, respectively, all your employees – your representatives, your president and your senators – must come back and see if you (the boss) are pleased with their service and seek your permission to keep their jobs.
If you are in business, you want your enterprise to be successful and you try to hire good people to that end. But whether you call them workers, employees or supervisors, they must perform according to your standards and directions. Employees must please “da man” (the boss, you). If not, adios amigo. In government, the president, Congress, the Supreme Court is not “da man.” “You da man!”
In Washington today, many people simply refer to it as “the House” but it is the House of Representatives. Think about that word for just a minute. What and who is a representative? A representative is “someone sent in place of.” Said another way, when I can’t be somewhere in person, I send someone to represent me, someone to act on my behalf and carry out my wishes, not theirs. The Capitol is full of our representatives, and we empower them to “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” They all swear a solemn oath “to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States (not their political party or major donors) against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
Last November, many in America simply ignored or exercised foolishly what in many countries around the world today people are dying to obtain – the right to vote their consciences. Some Americans don’t bother to study the issues if they vote at all. They just vote according to party and not according to principle. (I know I’m not talking about you.)
I can remember my parents having to go through several challenges in order to vote, including in a “white only” primary, completing burdensome paperwork or literacy tests and/or paying a poll tax of between $1.50 and $1.75. That doesn’t sound like much today, but my father worked 12 hours a day, six-and-a-half days a week for $12. Hamburger, milk, bread was 25, 10 and 5 cents, so $2 was a week’s worth of groceries. But you know what? They studied, took the tests and paid the poll tax. We ate beans – and they voted the issues.
(On a side note: This is sadly not the case with many today, especially African-Americans, as I point out in my book, “Black YellowDogs.” When, and if, most blacks do vote, they vote the straight Democrat ticket, and here is a tragic paradox: In a poll taken recently involving black voters and moral issues, on all eight of the moral issues polled, blacks (who vote more than 90 percent for Democrats in every election) voted 100 percent against Democrat positions on every single moral issue.
In other words, they vote on the left but believe on the right.
The opportunity to vote is not something to be taken lightly. I appreciate that because, for me, voting is personal. Even as a member of the U.S. Air Force, it was not until 1966 when the Supreme Court ruled on the 24th Amendment declaring the poll tax unconstitutional that I could walk into a Texas voting booth and cast my vote for state representatives without having to pay for the right. (And let me just add, based on personal experience, the majority of people yelling about racism and discrimination today have no idea what they are talking about.)
This is 21st-century America. Times have changed dramatically. The unvarnished truth of the matter is, today you can essentially be just what you believe you can be. To quote the Bible once again, “Choose you this day whom you will serve” – your family, yourself, your country or the government.
Remember, “You da man.”
Media wishing to interview Ben Kinchlow, please contact [email protected].
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