Does Liberty Begin with God or Man?
Craig R. Smith asks: Where does our "liberty" really begin ... with the hand of man, or of God? America's Founding Fathers penned the Constitution with the hope that political, social and economic liberty would eventually triumph. They laid out sound principles which have served America well to this point in history. But will our leaders stay on track in the 21st century?…
Liberty is born from within
David Davidson:
"The Bible views government from the bottom up and starts with the individual and then moves to the family and then it goes to the church and then there's voluntary association of people, and then civil government is last, and, biblically speaking, it is least.
A biblical view of civil government is rooted in the understanding that God's power and authority flows from Himself to individual people, not to civil government rulers and then to the people, as the humanist philosophy teaches.
God ordained civil government to begin on the local level to promote peace and justice – no more or less. Duties that cannot be administered on a local level are then delegated to a higher level, such as state and federal government. This does not mean the state and federal government are superior or more powerful, but rather, that they have certain delegated powers given by local rulers on behalf of the people.
This pattern establishes local government as the parent and higher government as the child. A child does not tell the parent what to do or else the child is out of order. As with the family, so it is to be with civil government. Today the deterioration of this 'bottom-up' concept is so widespread that it is almost inconceivable that local government would challenge state or federal government, yet that is how it once was ... and could be again using the all but forgotten doctrine of 'interposition.'"
"Interposition": The doctrine of lesser magistrates
Black's Law Dictionary offers the following definition:
Interposition. The doctrine that a state, in the exercise of its sovereignty, may reject a mandate of the federal government deemed to be unconstitutional or to exceed the powers delegated to the federal government.
The concept is based on the 10th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, reserving to the states powers not delegated to the United States.
Far from a radical doctrine, interposition is actually a middle-ground position. Absolute submission to unlawful authority leads to and sanctions tyranny and oppression. Popular rebellion can lead to chaos and bloodshed. Interposition – lesser magistrates, state and local authorities, placing themselves between their people and the higher magistrates or federal authorities – is a moderate course that is less likely to result in either extreme.
Mass ignorance of the U.S. Constitution
Dr. John Eidsmoe:
"Today the American people do not have the awareness of the Constitution that Americans had of their constitutional rights back in the 1830s, according to French observer Alex deTocqueville. Today we repeatedly see the courts talking about an evolving standard – an evolutionary interpretation of the Constitution.
[They] refer to our Constitution as a 'living' Constitution, which sounds attractive, but what they mean by this is a Constitution that is continually in flux, the meaning of which changes from one generation to the next and is really up to the judges to interpret. As one chief justice once said, 'we are under a Constitution.' But the Constitution is what the judges say it is.
That being the case, not only do we give judges virtually absolute power, but it means that no rights are really secure, because they're all subject to this changing, evolving interpretation. Rights can be strengthened beyond what the Founding Fathers intended, they can be watered down way below what they intended, or even read out of the Constitution entirely."
…the role of civil government and the judicial system have grown beyond their proper, God-given boundaries. As Americans are stripped of our liberty, some will complain, others will pray, still fewer will actually do something.
Perhaps the next sweeping movement will understand the "War of the Worlds" is really a War of the World Views – but not until after a final attempt by the faithless to separate God from American culture altogether (which will fail miserably). True, Christians can celebrate our liberty – which is born within our hearts – but then we must do what we can to ensure it's reflected in our government and courts for our children's sake.
Full commentary at http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45112
Pastor Chuck Baldwin wrote in “Bible Inspired America’s Founding Documents:”
The Law of Nature can be viewed in Romans 2:14-16. That our Creator is the Author of life is seen in Genesis 2:7. That God, not government, grants liberty is seen in Galatians 5:1. The "pursuit of happiness" is found in Ecclesiastes 3:13… Beyond that, virtually every one of the ten articles contained in the Bill of Rights has Biblical foundation...
Full commentary at http://www.newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin245.htm