America’s Great Religious Document

By Phyllis Schlafly

Tea Parties and other spontaneous groups of activists are bringing a new appreciation of the United States Constitution to grassroots America, so this Fourth of July would be a good occasion to make sure that they also appreciate our other essential founding document, the Declaration of Independence. I urge all to find a copy on the internet (non-computer-capable oldtimers can look for an old world almanac on their bookshelves) and celebrate the holiday by reading the great Declaration.
The Declaration of Independence is the official and unequivocal recognition by the American people of our belief and faith in God. It affirms God’s existence as a “self-evident” truth that requires no further discussion, debate or litigation.
The nation created by the great Declaration is God’s country. The rights it defines are God-given. The actions of its signers are God-inspired.
The Declaration of Independence contains five references to God: God as Creator of all men, God as supreme Lawmaker, God as the Source of all rights, God as the world’s supreme Judge, and God as our Patron and Protector. The Declaration declares that each of us was created; so if we were created, we must have had a Creator and, as the modern discovery of DNA confirms, each of God’s creatures is different from every other person who has ever lived or ever will live on this earth.
The Declaration proclaims that life and liberty are the unalienable gifts of God, natural rights, which no person or government can rightfully take away. It affirms that the purpose of government is to secure our God-given unalienable individual rights.
For the first time in history, our Declaration reduced government from master to servant. Government was proclaimed to derive its powers only from the consent of the governed.
Knowledge of our Declaration of Independence should be required of all school children. They should also be taught that many of the 56 men who signed it then paid for their courage with their lives and fortunes, and that’s why we are able to enjoy our freedom and independence today.
It is dishonest for schools to ignore our nation’s Judeo-Christian heritage. It is historical fact that our Founding Fathers were men of faith who took their Christian religion seriously, were well-schooled in the Bible, and believed that religion and morality are the foundation of good government.
Fortunately, the Declaration is not subject to amendment or to whims and biases of supremacist judges who may claim it is a “living” Declaration that can be reinterpreted. It’s important for Americans to be on guard against those who don’t like our Declaration of Independence or are in denial about what it says.
The message of the Declaration of Independence is under attack from the ACLU and atheists because it refuted the lie about a constitutional mandate for “separation of church and state.” Atheists have filed numerous lawsuits in the courts of activist judges to try to eliminate our right to acknowledge God in public places, in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and in Ten Commandments monuments.
The atheists are trying to change American history, expunge all reference to religion from textbooks, and make us a completely secular nation. History proves America was founded by religious men who believed that belief in a divine Creator is basic to good government.
We get the impression that President Obama is embarrassed not only about references to God, but also by the concept of independence, which asserts our national sovereignty. He’s more comfortable bowing to foreign dictators, declaring himself a “citizen of the world” and pledging to “rejoin the World Community,” as he did when speaking to cheering German socialists.
The globalists and international extremists really don’t like our Declaration of Independence. A couple of years ago, then British Prime Minister Gordon Brown came to Harvard to lecture us to ditch our Declaration of Independence and replace it with a “Declaration of Interdependence” and a “New World Order.”
Brown’s speech was a classic of impudence and globalist propaganda, using the word interdependence 13 times, globalization 7 times, and global 69 times. Brave Americans rejected Britain’s royalists in 1776, and we don’t want to reinstate any globalist supervision from Britain, the United Nations, or any UN treaties.
Brown also peddled the politically correct line that all religions (Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists) have “common values” and “similar ideals.” They certainly do not, as a rereading of our Declaration of Independence makes clear.
One of the legacies of the late Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) is a federal law that requires all educational institutions receiving federal finds to teach something about the Constitution on Constitution Day, September 17. In the absence of any law about the Fourth of July, it’s up to each of us to observe this important 234th anniversary.

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Social Issues vs. Fiscal Issues

June 18th, 2010                                                                           by Phyllis Schlafly The media are forever trying to create a division in the Republican Party between those who care most about so-called social issues and those who want priority for fiscal issues. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is the most recent politician to fall into this trap by asserting that the next president “would have to call a truce on the so-called social issues.” The truth is that social and fiscal issues are locked in a political and financial embrace that cannot be pried apart. Those who emphasize runaway government spending and out-of-control debt and deficits must face the fact that those trillions of dollars are being spent by government on social problems. Those who care about Big Brother’s dictatorial intrusions into our daily lives and privacy must come to grips with how and why Big Brother has vastly increased his regulatory power. Government powers, as well as the money in government’s hands, have expanded to deal with social problems. In order to reduce government’s size and power, and restore the limited government sought by fiscal conservatives, they simply must address the social issues. It’s the breakdown in our culture that has caused millions of Americans to depend on government for their living expenses and for solutions to their personal problems. In the not-too-distant past, we had a society where husbands and fathers were the providers for their families. The 1.7 million out-of-wedlock babies born last year (41 percent of all births) and their unmarried moms now look to Big Brother as their financial provider. The decline of marriage is not only the biggest social problem America faces today, but it’s also government’s biggest financial problem. It is encouraging that some grassroots groups are now searching for remedies to the marriage problem. A ten-point agenda for rebuilding our society based on traditional marriage has just been articulated by two author-activists, David R. Usher of the Center for Marriage Policy and Mike McManus of Marriage Savers. Their agenda recommends waiting periods both for marriage and for divorce. The agenda includes replacing our current system of unilateral divorce with permitting divorce based on two methods: Mutual Consent or Necessary Dissolution for defined and proven reasons. Their agenda calls on churches to take the lead in fostering policies that promote and save marriage. This would include encouraging four to six months of marriage preparation so couples will know what they are getting into before they marry, and mentoring couples in troubled marriages. Usher and McManus recommend effective shared parenting laws after divorce because all social studies show that children need parenting by both mother and father, unless a parent is found unfit. Usher and McManus urge reforming welfare and child-support policies to remove financial incentives for non-marriage. Present policies of welfare-to-perpetual dependency should be replaced with policies that promote welfare-to-marriage because marriage is one of the best routes out of poverty. The famous 1965 Moynihan Report on how welfare handouts destroy families by giving financial handouts only to women, thereby making husbands and fathers irrelevant, is now recognized as one of the most prophetic government reports ever written. The many financial incentives written into federal appropriations laws which promote cohabitation rather than marriage, must be eliminated. Even Obamacare contains a marriage penalty by reducing the insurance subsidy when cohabiting couples marry. Financial incentives that penalize marriage are a reason why unmarried cohabiting couples soared from 430,000 in 1960 to 6.8 million in 2008. The ten Usher-McManus recommendations include the economic factor by urging us to bring back sustainable manufacturing jobs for working-class Americans. Jobs used to be available to the average middle-class guy which enabled him to support his wife and children in their own home, but millions of those jobs have now gone overseas. The decline of marriage is the major cause of the growth of the welfare state. This year we the taxpayers are spending $350 billion to support single moms, and this amount increases every year. That’s only the start of the costs because social problems come out of female-headed households: crime, drugs, sex, teen pregnancies, suicides, runaways, and school dropouts. The left is content to let this problem persist because 70 percent of unmarried women voted for Barack Obama for president. They vote for the party that offers the richer handouts. Fiscal and social conservatives need each other. Remedying the culture and restoring a marriage society is the only way to reduce the size and costs of the welfare state. Further reading: Married Fathers: America’s Greatest Weapon Against Child Poverty

Countering the Liberal Hijacking of “America Speaking Out”

I just spoke with a strong conservative, very pro-life Congressman’s Chief of Staff who alerted me to a disconcerting issue.  As you might know, the House Republican leadership launched a social networking tool several weeks ago called “America Speaking Out.”  Eagle Forum issued a statement supporting the effort, along with several other pro-family groups (see the attached statement).  I’m usually skeptical of these types of ventures and am a little scared off by the technology.  But, I believe this one has great potential.  The idea behind it is to get Americans weighing in on the debate about the issues facing our nation, and the Members of Congress regularly read and respond to posts on the site.  Unfortunately, the liberals have sabotaged the site, and we must get it back.

The way it works is that Americans submit ideas about solutions to the problems facing the nation.  People vote on the ideas, and Members of Congress will occasionally comment on them.  The site is being tracked to observe trends and gauge voter ideas and sentiment.  We are told on the Hill that there is no website Republican House leadership is watching more than this one.

However, here is just a sampling of the current high vote-garnering “ideas:”

Under the “life” section, the idea with the highest number of votes is:

“Termination of pregnancy should be safe, legal, and rare.”

Similarly, under the “Protecting Families” section, the idea with the highest number of votes is:

“Legalize gay marriage.”

Under “Liberty and Freedom” the current winner is:

“Ban handguns. No exceptions, except for law enforcement and military.”

This tells me pro-family conservative activists are not participating in this forum!  The Republican Leadership worked hard to publish this site launch.  Unfortunately, it was picked up for ridicule by liberal blogs and publications, and it looks as though the liberals have hijacked the effort.

We can take it back!  I encourage all of you to get involved and to get the word out to your lists and communities that we need solid pro-life, pro-family conservatives submitting, commenting on and voting for good, conservative ideas.

To get involved:

• Go to www.americaspeakingout.com
• Click on “Log in” in the upper right corner
• Click on the link at the bottom of the box that appears allowing you to create your own account.
• You will immediately receive an email at the address you provide.  Check that email, and you will have a link back to the page.  Click on that link, and it will take you into the site, where you can start participating.

One thing you can do is submit an idea, then use Facebook or email to encourage your friends to vote for your idea.

Please let me know if you have any questions about this.  I would be happy to walk you through it.

Thank you for all that you do, and have a wonderful weekend!

Colleen

Colleen Holmes

Executive Director

Eagle Forum

316 Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E. Suite 203

Washington,  D.C.  20003

202.544.0353

202.547.6996 fax

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