What Kids Need, and What the Government Gives Them

I believe that this country is headed for collapse. I also believe that we can save it. The education system is what is ripping us apart. You can trace almost any problem in our modern day society back the our corrupt schooling system. We need to change the public schooling system in order to turn our world around. We can fix this! If we can manage it our country will return to it’s former glory in just a few generations.

When was the last time you had control over what was taught at school? What is taught to the future of America! We are in a position where, if not stopped, it will take us down a path to tyranny and slavery. This is explained very clearly by the following statistics:

• 3,030,000 Students drop out of high school every year
• In the 50 largest cities in America 59% of students drop out of high school
• 75% of crimes in the US are committed by high school dropouts

This does not look like a system that works. The problems in this society obviously have been flowing from the public schooling systems. Where children are taught what is, and isn’t true.

Where do the majority of American children learn “Truth” from? The public schooling system. But the problem is that the government controls this method, because of the separation of church and state, and because of outspoken minorities, God and religion are taken out of the equation. What does this result in? Easily moldable children being taught that “truth” is whatever the government deems to be “politically correct”. This is not right. This is not freedom. People with power want to keep their power (see D&C 121:39). This is one of the reasons that our country is failing. Truth has been replaced by political correctness and standardized testings. The youth of today are our future, and the government of today is taking away their knowledge of truth. They are denying us of our truth!

And we know that the violation (or denial) of truth brings less freedom.

Our country, the one that stands for freedom and justice, is destroying itself in the name of freedom! We are already experiencing the problems as the last generation has reached adulthood and too many are still completely reliant on the government for money, food, clothing, and housing. To fix this we need to do away with the “No Child Left Behind” Program, the new common core program, standardized testing, and federal control of the schooling program. We need to move the responsibility of public education  back to the states where it belongs. These are the steps that need to happen in order to bring back our glory.

The lack of truth in our schooling system and reliance on the government has caused our country to enter the state it is in now. Our country is headed for collapse. The many reasons for this can be brought back to the public schools. This is fixable, but it will require a huge change to the modern schooling system.

An In-Depth Look at the Constitution: The Executive Branch

            In 1787, our founding fathers drafted the Constitution of the United States—our foundation and governing document in this country. This Constitution is the reason that we have the freedoms that we have today, and the reason that our government isn’t as oppressive as it could be. However, this Constitution has been torn apart. Amendments, unconstitutional laws, and unconstitutional court rulings have plagued this nation, and, just like the Declaration of Independence says, it is our responsibility to get back to the Constitution and back to good government: “…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.”

            One of the key elements to the Constitution was the idea of three branches of government: the legislative branch (Congress), the judicial branch (the courts), and the executive branch (the President and his cabinet). One of the most genius ideas that is found in the Constitution is the idea that these branches could check each other and balance each other out so that one branch would not become so powerful as to abuse the power given to it. The Constitution set up checks and balances to ensure that this would happen. However, conspiring men have found ways to alter and abolish these checks and these balances for their own profit and power.

            The branch of the Constitution that I’m going to be talking about today is the executive branch. This branch of government mainly consists of the President of the United States and his cabinet, and everything about the executive branch is found in Article II of the Constitution.

            Let’s begin with the process of election for the President and Vice President of the United States. In Section I of Article II of the Constitution, this process of election is laid out. The states each appoint a number of electors based on the number of Congressmen and Senators that the given state currently has in office. These electors are the ones who choose the President and Vice President. An elector must be an honorable person that is not holding any office under the United States. These electors must also be strictly anonymous; for fear that their votes could be influenced by others. On a date and time chosen by Congress, the electors meet in their respective states and vote for two people: one president and one vice president. They then send their votes to the Senate, and the votes are counted. A president and vice president are then chosen. The twelfth amendment made miniscule changes to this process, but for the most part, the fundamental format of the election process stayed the same.

            Electors were originally designated so that conspiring men would not deceive the majority of the people. However, look at America today. The Electoral College still chooses the president, but did you watch the last election? All people care about is the popular vote, which shouldn’t even matter. The vast majority of states in the United States today have laws that govern what electors do and who they vote for. Most states have laws that say that their electors must vote for the person that the majority of the people vote for, and as a result of this, many conspiring men have been elected to office (just look at our president today). This is just one of many of the checks and balances that have been demolished by unconstitutional laws.

            Next, the Constitution covers the qualifications of a president. All of these qualifications are found in Section I of Article II, and all of these qualifications apply to the Vice President of the United States (because he becomes president if the President is unable to execute his office). Here are the qualifications:

• Must be a natural born citizen of the United States
• Must be at least 35 years old
• Must have been a resident of the United States for at least 14 years

            In Article II, Section II of the original Constitution, a list of powers given to the President of the United States was created:

• To serve as commander-in-chief of the army and navy in times of war
• To grant pardons and reprieves for offences against the United States
• To fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate

            The President was also given a list of powers that are meant to be given him under the advice and consent of the Senate:

• To make treaties
• To nominate and appoint ambassadors or other public ministers and consuls
• To appoint the judges of the Supreme Court
• To appoint all other officers of the United States that are not mentioned in the Constitution and created by law

            In the Constitution, it specifically talks about how these powers are given to the President under the Senate. If they desired, the Senate could easily stop the President from appointing any offices of the United States. However, look at today’s United States. The Senate is vastly Democratic, and they are totally on the side of the President of the United States. Their agenda is very similar to his. Why would they want to take away his power?

            In Section III of Article II of the Constitution, a final list of powers and duties is given to the President of the United States:

• To inform Congress from time to time on the State of the Union
• To recommend legislation or action that the Congress may take
• To convene in either or both houses of Congress
• To adjourn Congress in case of disagreement
• To receive ambassadors and public ministers
• To take care that all laws be faithfully executed
• To commission all the officers of the United States

             If you did not watch the President’s 2014 State of the Union Address, I would encourage you to go watch it. It is very eye opening to see what President Obama is doing to usurp and abuse his power. After the preamble, the first phrase of the Constitution states: “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States…” Notice how all legislative powers are given to Congress, not to the President. The President can only recommend that Congress do something. He cannot and should not make laws, yet he does. The President has abused his power to put executive orders into action. One of the President’s first powers mentioned in Article II is the power to serve as commander-in-chief of the army and navy in times of war.

            The Founders created the commander-in-chief position so that the President could act in times of emergency. This included the power to create executive orders, but this power has been utterly abused. The President now feels that he has all power. He feels like he can do whatever he wants; that he can make laws whenever he desires. The executive branch of the United States was originally designed to be limited, but our president is currently pushing past that and creating laws, which is severely unconstitutional. Go watch the 2014 State of the Union Address. Barack Obama basically says that he would like to work with Congress, but he says that if they don’t cooperate, he will take matters into his own hands and do it himself. It is our right and duty as the people of the United States to stop this from happening.

            America is wicked. The people of America are becoming increasingly more ignorant and immoral as each minute passes. America’s government is oppressive. Many of America’s laws are unconstitutional. America is trillions of dollars into debt. We have a President and a Congress consisting of power-seeking corrupters of government. America has countless problems right now. All hope seems lost.

            The only way back to what America once was is through the Constitution. We need to get back to this divine document. It was designed to limit the powers of our government. We need to stop Barack Obama. We need to stop Congress. We need to stop the Supreme Court. We need to stop unconstitutional law. We need to stop giving in to this death, desolation, and tyranny in these states. It is our right; it is our duty, to throw off our oppressive government and to get back to the principles that made us a nation. We must become a more perfect union. We must get back to the Constitution.

Constitutional Powers: What happened to the 25?

"What powers does the government have under the Constitution?" 

   When we first see this question we may think of the many fingers of government that have reached into ever facet of our lives. If you thought of those thousands of "powers" being exercised by our government, I commend you, at least you know what is going on in America. But you're wrong. There're only 25 powers even implied in the original Constitution. This is a drastic difference from what we see today. What powers was the government given originally? How have those changed? What happened to cause those changes? Our government has reached far beyond it's bounds, and as a result, we are losing our freedoms. 

   Initially, our government was very limited. They were only given 25 powers, some of which are only implied and may not have been purposefully included. To counter that already minimal list, there also placed nine regulations upon them. When we look into our governmental processes it can be difficult to imagine what these powers may have been. 

1. To lay and collect import duties.
2. To pay the debts of the U.S. Government.
3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations and Indian Tribes.
4. To regulate commerce among the States.
5. To regulate immigration.
6. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization.
7. To establish uniform laws on bankruptcy throughout the United States.
8. To coin money and regulate its value and that of foreign coin, and to issue bills of credit.
9. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States.
10. To fix the standard of weights and measures.
11. To provide and regulate postal services.
12. To establish protection for intellectual property, including patent, copyright, and trademark rights.
13. To constitute lower national courts.
14. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the laws of nations.
15. To declare war, authorize warlike activities by other than the armed forces, and make rules concerning captures.
16. To raise, support and regulate the armed forces.
17. To govern what part of the Militia shall be employed in the service of the United States.
18. To exercise general Legislation over federal ground, which is limited to federal territories and districts, land purchased from states with the consent of their legislatures, U.S. flag vessels on the high seas, and the grounds of U.S. embassies abroad.
19. To guarantee a republican form of government to the States.
20. To enter into a treaty, alliance, or confederation with a foreign state.
21. To declare the punishment for treason.
22. To prescribe the manner in which the acts, records, and judicial proceedings of each state shall be proved to other states and what should be done about them.
23. To admit new states into the Union.
24. To dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States.
25. To make laws necessary and proper for executing the powers delegated to the U.S. government.

These are the basic necessities of a good, sound, strong government. A government needs to be kept to it's bounds, or it will grow and, in the end, will turn on it's creators and consume their freedom. 

   To help to stop the government from consolidating itself and expanding, consequentially becoming a more tyrannical one, the founders placed restrictions on what the national government could do. 

1. No exercise of powers not delegated to it by the Constitution.
2. No payment from the Treasury except under appropriations made by law.
3. Excises and duties must be uniform throughout the United States.
4. [The government] Shall pass no tax or duty on articles exported from any state.
5. No appointment of a senator or representative to any civil office which was created while he was a member of Congress or for which the amount of compensation was increased during that period.
6. No preferences to the ports of one state over another in regulation or tax collection.
7. No titles of nobility shall be granted by the U.S. government, or permitted to be granted to government officials by foreign states.
8. [The government] May not protect a State against domestic violence without the request of its legislature, unless it cannot be convened, in which case, without the consent of its executive.
9. U.S. courts do not have jurisdiction over suits against a state by citizens of another state or foreign country.

There are other negatives on the power of government, but they can be boiled down to these nine. As we look at both of these lists we see first, that this government is far larger than it was ever meant to be, and second, that the government has directly violated the Constitution many times. As a result of those changes, we are seeing an ever more tyrannical government. 

   The changes that plague our nation are countless. One need only hunt down a list of bills being processed to see how terrible the plague really is. We see laws regulating and over regulating business. We watch as taxes are taken from us at ever greater amounts; by a government that isn't even allowed to tax you directly. We tremble in fear of massive laws that no human being has ever read that drastically change our very lifestyle. And among many other things, we now have a president that has publicly told us that he intends to use executive action (not a power given by the government) to move his socialist agenda along, with or without the consent of the congress. 

   These are just a few of the countless things that our government is doing that overreach their constitutional bounds. But what are some of the major events that rocked those foundations? Over the four major waves that have hit America, the waves have crushed our freedoms, and opened large rifts that allowed the government to overstep it's bounds. 

   The first "wave" came from 1803 to 1824. During this wave, the Judicial Branch ruled that they had power to determine the Constitutionality of any and all laws. This is second nature to us now, but the implications of that ruling are exponential in allowing the government to overstep it's rules. In allowing the government to decide what the government could do, it basically negates the Constitution entirely. The only thing that was really kept the Constitution alive was the check and balances of government. That kept itself from overreaching and throwing off the Constitution.

   The second wave hit just after the Civil War. In the aftermath of such a horrific event, the government vastly overstepped it's bounds. Though, I find that many of the decisions were good, they were went about in the wrong way. From this point on, everyone accepted that the government was the power, not the states. This was not very wrong at the time, but it opened the door wide for the next wave.

   The third came in and around the year 1913. The 17th Amendment was passed. This took away one of the biggest protections of the Constitution, ever. This was the states appointing the Senators. The door that was opened by Lincoln now took the power from the states. 

   The fourth started in 2008 with the Wall Street fiasco and huge government bailouts. Following that we saw many things explicitly outlined in the Constitution being violated. Ex post facto laws have been passed left and right. Bills of Attainder are also. Everything is in chaos.

   Everything we've seen so far has shown how our government has corrupted the Constitution. It is sickening to think about all the breaches that have happened. And it makes us wonder, as we look at all the freedoms and rights we have lost, and are losing, if they have taken those things away, can they not take away more? Can they keep expanding? This requires a call to action. Will we stand for our rights? There are specific things we need to approach as a nation. The biggest thing we can do now is push the congress to repeal the 17th. This is the first step. Once we do that, we can start bringing power back to the States and take power from the President. We need to do that. 

   The Constitution in an inspired document. It is the standard by which our government should abide. It is not. As a result we have lost, and our losing many freedoms. We need to promote change. If we can shift the power center back to the states, we can have a rebirth of freedom. If we do not stand for our liberties and for our Constitution, we will be forced to kneel to the government that was once our own. The time is near. We have a decision to make. I echo the admonition made by our beloved president George Washington, "The time is near at hard which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves". This stands as true today as it was at the time of the revolution. Will we stand 4 the Constitution? 

Calling America: An Epistle

What really matters?

“There shall be no more tyranny. A handful of men cannot seize power over thousands. A man shall choose who it is shall rule over him. . . . We give all we have, lives, property, safety, skills . . . we fight, we die, for a simple thing. Only that a man can stand up.”--James Otis, Johnny Tremain.






America is falling. No observant or educated person who has lived in this country can deny that. Yet, even as this great nation; this great kingdom is falling, many do nothing. Many continue their daily lives with nothing but little interest for their freedom. They’ve got a point, right? Why should we do anything for this country? One person couldn’t possibly have any effect on this nation. America’s going to fall anyway; it’s too late to do anything about it. So, let’s sit at home and be endorsed by the government while we eat potato chips and watch pointless television shows.

This country is worth it. This is no random nation. Our forefathers fought and sacrificed everything they had for this country. This is the land that was promised to our fathers hundreds of years ago. This land is a chosen land. Christ will reign personally upon this land when the time comes. There are so many reasons that we must save this nation. Do we care about this great land? Sometimes I wonder if people really care about college football more than this chosen country. Sometimes I wonder whether people really have more interest in their mansions, fancy cars, and riches than in this divine cause.

Even if we don’t care, God still cares about this nation. Certainly that means something to us. The Divine Being who governs the universe and everything in it will, if we violate His laws, sweep us off the face of His chosen land. We are God’s chosen people, but that also means that we have a greater responsibility to observe His commands and His laws. If you don’t care about this country, you will one day wish that you cared.

Do you not believe me that God cares about this nation? How can you think such a thing? Remember, o people, what the Lord has done for our fathers. He undoubtedly led the Pilgrims across this sea in order for them to be able to worship Him in this land. This is evident in the suffering of the Pilgrims. It was highly improbable that these people would survive the winter, and there is only one explanation for why they did: God. And again, how could a small bunch of inexperienced “soldiers” from a group of small colonies come together to defeat the greatest army and navy force that the world has ever seen? Only God could have caused that to happen. How could a nation survive for more than two hundred years? Only through divine help from above has this nation done great things, and only through that help will it continue to live.

Not many could say it better than Thomas Paine did: “THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” We each have a choice. We can choose God and live in prosperity and freedom in this chosen land. This will take much hardship and suffering in the moment, but it must be worth it in the long run. We can choose this great life, or we can choose to relax now and therein obtain captivity and death according to the plan of devils. “Choose you this day whom ye will serve,” Joshua once wrote. Regardless of your choice, though, God and freedom will live on. Thomas Paine intelligently illustrates the idea once again: “for though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire.”

Religion in America: Has America Ceased to be Great?

   What makes a free society? Not only free in name, as ours claims to be, but in fact. What is the key to a truly free nation? Is it a coincidence that God is mentioned three times in Declaration of Independence? Or that our very Pledge of Allegiance states that this country is "one nation under God"? Is it surprising that our first right defended in the Bill of Rights is the right to religion? The founders made it very clear that our type of government is meant "only for a moral and religious people." We have seen a degradation of our morality. One needs not look far to see that. The role of religious freedom in a free nation is tremendous. If we do not defend that liberty, we do not defend any liberty.

The founders believed in freedom. Freedom of all kinds. Freedoms from, freedoms to, freedom in general-was the essence of their lives. But out of all the rights, all the freedoms, out of 189 rights proposed for the Bill of Rights, the first one lists the right to worship. What does this tell us about the founding era? We can tell that they valued religion highly. In the founding era we saw a huge fire of religion. Alexis De Tocqueville, a powerful writer of the early American model, said this of our country;

"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there. In the fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there. In her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits, aflame with righteousness, did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." (De Tocqueville, Democracy in America)  

Even this French politician recognized that our strength as a society comes from our righteousness. Following this period of religious fervor we saw tremendous prosperity! Now we find ourselves often asking, "Where is the prosperity? Where is the American dream?" This is the answer. America is ceasing to be good, so America has ceased to be great.

We've seen a moral decay in modern America. This has caused a parallel decay in our greatness as a nation. We have also seen many attacks on our religion that have caused this. But do those attacks have a direct affect on our other liberties? Many people would argue that they have no relationship with each other. This is false. They are very intimately connected. Freedom of Religion is the first of our Liberties protected by the Constitution. All rights come from somewhere. They are either God-given or they are government-given. They are Natural Laws or they are Posit Laws. The main difference between these types of rights is the principle that if the government gives you a right, the government can take away that right. Remember, God gives each of his children unalienable rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (or property, an extension of your life). What happens when we take God out of the equation? Now our right to life is something that the government gave us. Consequentially, the government can then take away our lives. This as well as our property and our liberties.

Sound familiar? That's because our government is doing those very things (or are preparing to). At the center of every controversial topic we see this debate. Gun ownership, the right to protect your God-given rights, is one point that the government is attempting to remove-and thus make it easier to remove our God-given rights. Government demands that we pay them so that they can fund abortion; so they can take innocent lives. Every day we see more of our fundamental rights are being violated by our government. This is all the result of our nation disregarding religion more and more. When you take God out of your education and then teach children that the rights that the government protects came when the founders signed the Declaration, they will assume that the government can take them away. If we do not fight for our right to worship now, then we will not have that right later.

We have seen that as a result of morality and religion our nation has prospered. Right now, we are neither moral nor religious. But this does not mean we cannot return. We have not lost our rights. We need to stand for those rights that God, the ultimate being, granted each of us. We need to bring religion back into schools, into government. If we do that we can begin to rise from the muck and filth that now surrounds our politics. Let me echo the words of our great founder, John Adams, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."