Stand with Israel: A Speech Before the Independence Day Rally for the Constitution

Yesterday, July 4th, 2011, I gave a short speech at the Independence Day Rally for the Constitution in Luna, New Mexico. Here is what I said:

Good Morning. Shalom Aleichem.

I ask for a few minutes of your time to discuss something that goes beyond the important national and Constitutional problems we have been thinking about this morning. We are certainly facing those dangers from within, but we are facing dangers outside of our country as well. As you have heard, the International Left has now joined with the forces of Jihadist Islam in order to work together for one world government. the leftists believe that they are using the Jihadists to attain world domination. The Jihadists know that they will use the leftists to attain one world Caliphate and then destroy them.

For us, this means the loss of our liberty and the Western Culture that produced it, no matter who wins. I am not a betting woman, but I expect that in any struggle between the Left and the Jihadis, the Jihadis will win. They are the most consistent.

But this is not the first time Western Culture has been threatened. In fact, the first time it was at risk, Western Culture had not even been developed. The nascent ideas of the Rule of Law and Individual Responsibility would be given to the world by Judaism, which at the beginning resided within the future of the dynamic people of the Israel more than two thousand years ago.

Imagine with me, if you would, circumstances a long time ago in place very far away. It is the year 701 BCE. Sennacharib King of Ashur ( that is, Assyria) sent his general up from the sack of Lachish to threaten the City of Jerusalem with utter destruction. If you had been an Israelite upon the walls of the old city, you would have heard this general, Rab-Shakech, saying in your own tongue that your city is doomed, that should you fight, you will lose, and you will be flayed alive and beheaded, and that your wife and children will be taken into slavery in Ninevah, that great city, and forced to serve idols. But the general also said, O, he of the honeyed tongue: "Come now, and surrender, and you shall eat of your vine and fig tree until you are taken to serve in Ninevah, that great city, a place not unlike your own."

In these circumstances, what would be your hope? Would you hope that Hezekiah, King of Judah, would listen to the beguiling voice and take you into slavery, to bow down to the gods of death in order that you may live?, Or would you hope to stand and fight, no matter how desperate the situation—to fight to remain faithful to your covenant with the G-d of Israel, to die free rather than live as a slave?

Whatever your wish would have been while standing on that wall, knowing that the hour of trial was soon upon you, this is what happened. The G-d of Israel told his prophet, Isaiah son of Amoz to tell Hezekiah, King of Judah: “Be not afraid”. And the king listened to Isaiah and prepared his people for battle. For he knew that a choice between slavery in defeat and slavery in surrender was really not a choice at all. But by some unaccounted for miracle Sennacherib’s army became desperately ill, and no battle was fought. Rab Shakech and his armies left the field of battle before it began, and were gone by morning light.

And so it was that Western Civilization was saved before it ever began. Historians and scholars recognize this battle that never was as one of the decisive moments that set the future history of the world onto a path recognizable by us today. One of the pillars upon which Western Civilization is built is the Jewish understanding that the universe rests upon order and law, and that the law applies to all equally, that it favors neither the rich nor the poor, neither the kings and priests, nor the choppers of wood and drawers of water. But had Hezekiah King of Judah, chosen to surrender before the battle began, then there would have been no Judah, and no Jews to bring the idea of the Rule of Law forward, to see it in full bloom as a pillar of human freedom in the West.

There are many such moments in human history, times in which if a small group of seemingly unimportant individuals had wavered in the face of seemingly unbeatable foes, human freedom might have been stillborn, and the generations that have now lived free would have never seen liberty’s great light.

I believe we stand at such a moment today. Western values—individual rights, the rule of law, liberty its-own-self—is under attack from within and without, and as in 701 BCE, the tiny land of Israel, is standing in the crosshairs. The enemies of individual rights and human liberty will strike there first, seeking to destroy the West, the keeper of human dignity and freedom.
The Jewish State is the canary in the coal mine: if Israel falls to the bronze-age group-think that is the marriage between Jihadist Islam with the Left, then what is left of the West will not be too far behind.

And now it is we who are called upon to “Be not afraid.” Courage, it is said is found in the most unlikely of places, and its messengers are often the least important of people. We are those people, and what we do matters.

Last summer, the radio host Glenn Beck called for a rally in Washington DC, and he asked us, just ordinary people, to restore our honor by coming to the Lincoln Memorial on 8/28. The number of people who did so, peacefully and with purpose, speaks about how the smallest of persons can make a great difference in the world.

This year, Mr. Beck is holding a Restoring Courage conference in Jerusalem, on the south steps of the remnant of the Temple. He is asking all of us to stand with him, to stand for Israel, for he believes that Israel is once again the place where the battle will be met, and where the resolve of the West will first be tested. And to those of us who cannot travel to Israel, he is asking that we stand here, in our neighborhoods and in our churches and temples and synagogues. He is asking that we participate in the events through the wonder of the internet, and that American Christians find and invite their Jewish neighbors to join them for this event.

I stand before you today as a Jew. I believe that American Christians are the truest and surest friends that Israel has in the world. Despite what many have said, American Christianity shares important bonds with Israel, and Israel recognizes it. In Hebrew, the United States is called ARTZOT ha-BRIT—the Lands of the Covenant. That Covenant is the United States Constitution, born of the longing of those who left their birthplace to become a light to the nations, to advance the cause of Liberty in the world. Imperfect as we are, this is the Covenant that we strive to protect: Justice—characterized by the Rule of Law and not men; and Liberty—characterized by the recognition that individual rights are the divine gift endowed through our very nature and unalienable by any government.

To stand with Israel takes courage in these days. And that is why the rally in Jerusalem is called Restoring Courage. The time is coming, it is said, when we will all have to choose between what is easy and what is right. In the free choices we make, we come to learn who we are. As a Jew, my choice is between standing for who I am or risking certain annihilation, for the enemies of Israel have proclaimed the desire to kill every last Jew on the face of the earth. As Americans, your choices may not seem to be that stark. But they are still choices between being who you are and being enslaved. So I am asking you today to look into Restoring Courage: Stand with Israel. I am asking you to look into how this can be accomplished even here in New Mexico, here in Catron County.

It takes some Chutzpah to stand here and ask you this, but I am inviting myself to join with you to participate in this event on August 24.

I ask you: Will you stand with Israel?

Independence Day 2010: Defiance, Not Obedience!

DONT TREAD ON ME!
That was the motto of the American Revolution.
The rattlesnake represents an animal that will warn a person with the rattle. It will not strike without warning, but if you tread on it, it will STRIKE.

DONT TREAD ON ME!
Is the warning that Americans are now giving, as they go to Tea Parties to protest the abrogation of their liberty through the collectivist agenda of the pols of both parties, the administration and the courts. We will exercise our RIGHTS.

DONT TREAD ON ME!
Is why Cloward and Piven will not work upon Americans.
We will not acquiesce to the imposition of tyranny. We will defy it!
And a new generation is being taught to defy attempts upon their liberty . . .

Ayn Rand wrote:

"A dictatorship cannot take hold in America today. This country, as yet, cannot be ruled—but it can explode. It can blow up into the helpless rage and blind violence of a civil war. It cannot be cowed into submission, passivity, malevolence, resignation. It cannot be “pushed around.” Defiance, not obedience, is the American’s answer to overbearing authority. The nation that ran an underground railroad to help human beings escape from slavery, or began drinking on principle in the face of Prohibition, will not say “Yes, sir,” to the enforcers of ration coupons and cereal prices. Not yet."
From: “Don’t Let It Go,” Philosophy: Who Needs It, 213

To which, for the sake of our children, we reply: NOT EVER!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Celebrate the 234th Anniversary of American Independence:

Go Forth and Exercise Your Rights!

Liberty Song Saturday: Every Generation Needs a Revolution . . .

It is a treat to have a brand new song for Liberty Song Saturday, Independence Day Edition.
This is Rise Up! By Jeremy Hoop, and it is featured in the Tea Party Movie.

Despite the overblown fear--what else can you call it?--of the MSM, the Tea Party Movement has been the peaceful rising of the ordinary Americans, those who know that as one sign so aptly puts it: Your Socialist Ends Affect MY Means!
The Tea Parties represent the beginning of the II American Revolution--a Revolution like the first, one that began in the hearts and minds of the people. In Rise Up! Hoop sings:

"Ride with me from Boston to Phili to LA
With reason come marching
With knowledge come drumming
Let everyone hear you
Each soul that is near you
The British are coming! the British are coming!"

How different that is from the Mao-loving, car-burning leftists protesting at the G-20.

Enjoy! And Happy Independence Day! Go to your local Tea Party. Be part of the Jeffersonian Revolution. As Jefferson said (at various times):

"And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that its people preserve the spirit of resistance?"
" Every generation needs a revolution. God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion."
--Thomas Jefferson





Happy Independence Day! And in the spirit of our Founders:
Go Forth and Pursue Happiness!

From Every Mountainside . . .

We are still recovering from our Independence Day celebration. In the morning we made signs. In the afternoon, we went to the Albuquerque Tea Party. In the evening, the Engineering Geek and I drove up to a Santa Fe R3volution Celebration and Concert to listen to Adam Kokesh formally announce his candidacy for Congress, 3rd District, New Mexico. We arrive back home at 2:45 AM, pretty late (or early?) for old curmudgeons like us.

From every mountainside . . .actually, mountain top. . . let Freedom ring!

The Boychick (Dont Tread On Me) and his cousin D. (Old Glory) drove to the top of the ridge, flags out the window, waving wildly all the way.

Here they stand, signalling their patriotism to friends down toward Juan Tomas.

At the Tea Party, there were a least 7000 of us in the streets--at last accurately reported in the Albuquerque Journal--and a small flag for each person who registered to be "with us in spirit."

The count was made by giving out "dots" for each person in the cars, which parked in a huge lot across Alameda Blvd. from the site. Since we cannot guarantee we got ever biker and walker, as well as those who parked elsewhere, we at least know the minimum count.

The Engineering Geek, center, Navy Jack in one hand, and a homemade sign in the other. It says:

We the People are the true patriots and leaders for Liberty and Justice!

He was set up in the median, and I snapped the picture from across the street, where I had gone to pick up some more Libertarian Party literature to pass out.

We passed out 300 flyers for the Continental Congress 2009 for November, as well as the Libertarian stuff. The most popular handout was an enlarged 1 million dollar bill that said on the back, "Your Congress Spends This Much Every 5 Seconds." The "fine print" was the website and street address of the Libertarian Party. Another popular handout was the World's Shortest Political Quiz.

Across the street, a flag signals a nation in distress. Given the way our government ignores the Constitution and us (Non-representative Heinrich received messages 20:1 opposed to Cap-and-Tax, but voted the party line) we are now in distress. We are in terminal debt.

The Boychick and D. proudly waved the flags, as they moved up and down the street, talking to people. I got quite a few compliments about their knowledge. I know Madge would be as proud as me of them!

The Boychick was interviewed briefly and spoke into the camera with conviction about Cap-and-Tax, though he was not sure about healthcare. Pretty good for an 'Aspie' caught by surprise.

I have no pictures of the ride up to Santa Fe, as that took place at sunset for a 10 PM Rally at Greer Garson theater. I had a great time talking to some Libertarians from Arizona and California, over to help Adam get his campaign going. The rally was a combination of speeches by members of Campaign for Liberty, some other groups, and great music. Because of the encore calls for Jordan Page, who is one heck of a guitarist, we did not get out of there until 1:30! That's way past my bedtime.

It was a Glorious (and long!) Fourth!

R3volution: Independence Day

Independence Day!

Living Historian Patriot poses

before Faneuil Hall, Boston.

The statue is Samuel Adams,

Patriot, Son of Liberty and

signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Today we celebrate that great moment at which the Continental Congress declared that the 13 colonies "are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states", thus creating the United States of America. They voted for "Independency" on July 2, 1776, but adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Different founders traveled to Philedelphia over the course of that long, hot summer to add their signatures to that sublime document, bringing the total who pledged their "lives, fortunes and sacred honor" to 56.

John Adams, who was probably the most influential of those who pushed for independence, wrote to his wife Abigail on July 3, 1776:

"Yesterday the greatest question was decided which ever was debated in America; and a greater perhaps never was, nor will be, decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.

"I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will triumph in that Days Transaction, even although We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not." --3 July 1776, Letter of John Adams to Abigail Adams. The Adams Papers (2007), M.A. Horner, Ed.

Adams wrote that it was Posterity that would gain from this decision, even though the founders might well "rue it" because, by signing the Declaration, the Founders were committing treason against King George III, and if things should go badly, they would be hanged for it.

The price of Liberty is always dear, and the Founders knew it. Thus, they understood the seriousness nature of the pledge they made to each other, and to Posterity, when they said:

"And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."

Today, many of us, John Adam's posterity, are watching in dismay as the Liberty that our Founders put their lives on the line to preserve is being dismantled. We are now on the express train to tyranny , shedding the precepts of Liberty that we inherited from the Founders. Thus, and most cogent, is this quote that appeared at the end of the HBO miniseries, John Adams:

"Well, posterity, you will never know what it cost us to preserve your freedom. I only hope that you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it." --John Adams

We are that posterity, and it is our duty to protect and defend the freedom that our Founders paid such a dear price to obtain for us. This charge is laid upon us in the Declaration of Independence itself:

"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. 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."

We have been drifting into tyranny, and the abuses and usurpations of our Constitution by our own government have been thus far sufferable, but soon--how soon we do not know--the petty power of our nonrepresenting representatives will have indelibly altered our Republic, and the abuses and usupations will become the absolute despotism that the Founders warned us about. Now is the time for the peaceful R3volution of the word and the pen and the vote. We must do it now, or our children will find themselves contemplating another kind of Revolution entirely.

We are, as Edward Cline so eloquently reminded us last week, The New Sons of Liberty, should we choose to rationally confront the Crisis that is upon us.

Long may Lady Liberty live and endure!

Declaration! The Pursuit of Happiness

This is the last in a series of three posts I have been writing about the Declaration of Independence. The insights in the posts are taken from discussions we've had here at Los Pecos Homeschool that have been refined by me to bring out the important point that we arrived at from our reading and discussion of the text of the Declaration, as well as other primary and secondary sources used to aid our understanding. The first two posts can be found by clicking The Crimes of the King (1st post) and Governments Instituted Among Men (2nd post).


In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson penned this famous phrase:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

The rights to life and liberty are somewhat self-explanatory, and led to specific ennumerated rights in the first ten ammendments to the Constitution. The right to life, for example, involves the right to keep and bear arms in order to defend that right on the individual level as well as the national level. Certain rights to due process are extended as well, so that the state may not take a person's life for less than a grave offense (usually involving murder in the first degree) and with more than the usual safeguards. Thus the lengthy process of appeals for criminals facing execution.

The right to liberty mentioned in the Declaration also led to specific ennumerated rights in the Bill of Rights mostly related to due process. For example, and the right to freedom from unwarranted search and seizure, as well as the right to refrain from self-incrimination. All of these rights protect the citizen from a restriction of liberty at government hands.

But the pursuit of happiness is particularly interesting because it is less rigourously defined nor is it usually directly connected to certain liberties ennumerated in the Bill of Rights, although it can be, as we shall see.

The origins of the phrase are thought to be a paraphrase of John Locke's statement that "no one ought to harm another in his life,...liberty, or possessions." Elsewhere, Locke thought of the rights as "life, liberty and estate (property)," and these are indeed the rights that ennumerated in the Constitution and ostensibly protected by the United States Code of Law.

Some historians believe that the phrase "pursuit of happiness" was introduced to replace the term "property" because of the argument over slavery that was ongoing from the very beginning of the American experiment.

However, the concept of a right to the pursuit of happiness also has its own intellectual pedigree in the English Enlightenment tradition. The concept that an individual should pursue what he or she deems to be good in life is a revolutionary idea that reinforces the value of each individual life, and the unique makeup thereof. Happiness has no universal definition; rather each person is the arbiter of what it means. Therefore, the right to pursue of happiness includes but is not limited to the right to property. It also includes the right to individual choice in vocation and manner of life for each person, limited only by the restriction on the violation of the rights of others. (Slavery was a clear violation of the right to pursuit of happiness, and the founders knew it, and this expression of the right was incompatible with it. Sadly, it still took nearly 90 years more to settle the argument and longer to enact the 14th ammendment).

Thus the ennumerated Constitutional rights to freedom of speech, press, religion, and public assembly may be derived from Jefferson's right to the pursuit of happiness, as well as the protections placed on the ownership of property that guarrantee that citizens have freedom of movement and the freedom to choose where and how to live and work. All of these choices define individual assessments of what it takes to live the good life.

Courts have referenced the right to pursuit of happiness in several court decisions: one that upheld the right of a citizen to choice of vocation (Butcher's Union v. Crescent City, 1884), the right to privacy via the 14th ammendment (Meyer v. Nebraska, 1923), and the right to marry as one chooses (Loving v. Virginia, 1967). This last struck down anti-miscegnation laws as unconstitutional. If the courts are true to precedent, it is likely that this same argument can and will be used to strike down laws prohibiting legal unions between gays.

What is so politically revolutionary about stating such a right in the Declaration of Independence is that it is a radical change in philosophy. Previous to the English Enlightenment, an individual in the west was subject to the king, church, and state; his life was to be lived in service to these entities, and his personal happiness and choices were to be sacrificed to these higher powers. The idea that a human being is property of the state or of society still exists in socialist, communist, and theocratic states. Such slavery is incompatible with American ideals.

The founding of the United States as a servant government via the Enlightenment philosophy of individual rights turned the idea that a human being lives for the state on its head. The statement in the Declaration of Independence "...that among these are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" encoded the idea that government is the servant to the citizen and not his master is truly revolutionary. And like all such ideas, did not come to immediate fruition. The emancipation of slaves, the emancipation of women to live as full and equal citizens, and further work to ensure the freedom of all citizens to pursue the good life was and is ongoing.

As Americans, we are free to make our own choices as to how to pursue what we personally deem to be the good life. No one may dictate for us what that should be or how we should pursue it. The restriction we place upon ourselves to this purpose is that we may not dictate by coercive force how others among us choose to do so, nor may we violate the rights of others in our pursuits.

Photo Credits: 1) Declaration of Independence Image taken from Engraved version by William Stone, 1836.
2) Sailor aboard USS Constitution in Period Dress. E.Levin, July 2004.
3) Patriot, Living Historian, Boston Common, E. Levin, July 2004.

Independence Day

Happy 232nd Birthday, USA!

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania adopted the Declaration of Independence, launching the most revolutionary experiment in Liberty ever.

The Declaration of Independence is the founding document of the United States. Never before had a nation been formed by an explicit declaration that outlined the reasons for the formation of a new government, and the purpose of that government.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

Striking the Colors on the USS Constitution

E. Levin, July 2004

Never before in the history of human governments had a government declared that human happiness was a legitimate purpose of government. It's an amazing statement, if you truly consider the implications. Of course, no one can guarrantee a person happiness. But the right to pursue it is yours.

Happy Independence Day, Americans!

Go out there and pursue some happiness!

And here, for you listening pleasure is the Boston Pops performing John Phillips Sousa's

"Stars and Stripes Forever" at their annual July 4 concert a few years ago.

I will never forget Arthur Fiedler's passionate conducting of the Pops in this annual July 4th favorite on July 4, 1976. Alas, I have only the memory, since I had no video camera that year.

Declaration! Governments Instituted Among Men

During this past year, as part of N.'s civics education, we have been studying the founding documents of the United States. We have done this to educate him about the meaning and unique role of our nation, but also to remind ourselves of the blessings that we have inherited by our good fortune that our grandparents arrived, 'homeless, tempest tossed' upon these golden shores. In these days leading up to and including the Glorious Fourth, I am blogging some thoughts distilled from our study of the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4th, 1776. This is the second in the series. The first is The Crimes of the King.


A truly revolutionary enlightenment idea that came to fruition with the founding of the United States is a concept of government never before enacted anywhere in the world.
In the Declaration it is expressed so:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

This is truly revolutionary. Prior to the establishment of the United States, nation-states were ruled by kings (and a few queens), and their peoples were subjects. The king ruled by the concept of divine right (though the Enlightenment philosophies had weakened the idea somewhat) and the subjects owed the king fealty and obedience.

Note: It is interesting and logical that these ideas that were being used to separate America politically from the British crown, since the notion of certain rights retained by the subjects were recognized by English common law and codified for the nobility in particular by the Magna Carta. The English were more free and law-governed than the European continent. In fact, the American rebellion started as an assertion of "the rights of Englishmen" and became outright revolution only after a series of progressively more tyrannous policies were enacted, culminating in the closure of the Port of Boston. The ensuing unrest was then to be quelled by the seizure of arms from the militias of Lexington and Concord, Massachussetts, by General "Grandma" Gage. The planned seizure was detected and met armed resistance, and the Revolution was "on."

The words of the Declaration turn this idea upside down. Now the government has a specific and limited purpose: to secure the natural rights of the citizens. These rights are not given to the citizen by the government, they are derived from from the nature of the human being as a human being. And this government that serves this purpose derives its "just powers from the consent of the governed." Anything that the government does that does not serve to protect the natural rights of individuals is therefore unjust and tyrannical. And since governments serve at the consent of the governed, the governed are then free to to "fire" the tyrant and establish a new government. Treason, then, is an act against the rights of the governed, not an act of disobedience. Free citizens are not required to be obedient to a government. Rather, they require themselves to the Rule of Law. This is why civil disobedience is not treasonous for citizens, as it would have been for subjects.

The Declaration thus states:

"That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to 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."

This statement, together with the statement of the 'crimes of the king,' comprise the justification for the taking up of arms against the King's Redcoats, and the decision of the Thirteen (former) Colonies to declare independence and set up a goverment "in such form as...to effect their safety and happiness."

Ultimately, after the terrible war, the patriots established such a government, and with the adoption of the Constitution in 1787, sought to codify important rights that derive from the rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness." In an effort to protect these rights against a tyrannous government, the anti-federalists insisted on the Bill of Rights, which consist of the first ten amendments to the constitution. Especially important among these are the last two of the ten amendments:

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

These, in particular were meant to restrain the federal government and the states from limited rights to those ennumerated within the other eight amendments.

Although the Bill of Rights meant that the constitution was adopted, some of the founders were still skeptical of the power of government, which they correctly foresaw would become jealous of power and begin to vote in unconstitutional laws and permit unconstitutional acts against citizens; a government that began to think of itself as a ruler rather than a servant government charged with the protection of the rights of citizens.

Thus when Benjamin Franklin left the Constitutional Convention, he was asked by citizens gathered outside of Independence Hall, "Dr. Franklin, what kind of government shall we have?" To which he responded, "A republic--if you can keep it."

Thomas Jefferson, also a member of the Declaration committee, and the man who penned the first draft of the Declaration of Independence truly believed that to maintain a free republic it would be necessary to hold a revolution every twenty years give or take a few.

So it is that the citizens who declare some version of "throw the bums out!" are in the grand, Jeffersonian tradition. When considering political acts of obsta principiis (resist the first advances) in this election year, it would be good for us to remember that the Demo-Republicans have no "right" to our votes, and that these particular parties have become much too wedded to power, and much too neglectful of their obligations towards the natural rights of citizens to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I am going to honor the Spirit of '76 by making a formal commitment to express my real preferences in the voting booth. As I have previously done in every election that I have voted in, I intend to resist pressure suggesting that unless I vote for either the slow or the fast train to perdition, I am "throwing away my vote." I challenge you to do the same.

Photo Credits:

1) Declaration of Independence as printed in the Pennsylvania Packet, July 1776

2) 'The Rude Bridge that Arched the Flood,' Concord, MA E. Levin, July 2004

3)Concord Memorial, Concord, MA, E. Levin, July 2004.

Declaration! The Crimes of the King

This year at Los Pecos Homeschool, N. and I have engaged the founding documents of the United States as part of our civics education. The study has led us to understand our nation and civilization more deeply, and has engendered in us a greater respect for the principles upon which our nation was founded. Ultimately, the study has led the adult members of the family towards a more overt libertarian political view. I say more overt because homeschooling is in some sense a politically radicalizing act, even if the original motives of the homeschooling family were not politcal. Clearly, to buck compulsary government education implies a somewhat libertarian worldview to begin with.

Today is July 1st, and as we approach the Fourth of July holiday, which is the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I thought it would be instructive to blog some of what we learned in our study. So over the next few days, I will blog about the Declaration with some focus on parts that are not ordinarily highlighted by our political leaders--perhaps with good reason given the general collectivist, anti-liberty stance of those in power.

Most of us--or at least those of a certain age--are familiar with the stirring beginning of the Declaration of Independence:

"When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another...

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights..."

Stirring words indeed, and we often stop reading and quoting there, but as the Declaration is a document that explicates the reasons for the rebellion of the American colonists against their government in England, delving more carefully into the rest of the document can give us insight into the values of our nation at the founding.

The founding generation of Americans found cause to take up arms and stake their lives on the enlightenment idea that each person was endowed with certain rights not given by kings or priests, but that are derived from the nature of human beings. The body of the Declaration states that:

"...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..."

What were these "abuses and usurpations" that were so great as to to cause the embattled farmers of Lexington and Concord to fire the shot hear 'round the world?

The Declaration lists them in a section that is informally known as "the crimes of the king," listed thusly:

"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.
"He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.
He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing taxes on us without our consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:
For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:
For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."

What is so interesting about the crimes of the king is that to most of the people living on earth then, as well as now, these actions by government were, and are, considered right and normal. N. and I continue to note how often Americans (!) talk about our government as if its objective is to rule over us and impose upon us legislation for purposes other than the protection of our natural rights.

It is an interesting exercise to consider the crimes of the king in light of the various usurpations of our liberties by our own government that we take for granted today. The examination of just a few such from the list above are instructive. Consider for example, this one:

"He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance." This usurpation has to do with the multiplication of bureaucracy; unelected officialdom that can and does violate our civil rights for purposes not made plain to those whose rights are violated. Think about the IRS, which has been unlawfully given powers that even the judges of Supreme Court do not have to destroy commerce and ruin lives. Think about the increasing power of the Census Bureau, which has now been unconstitutionally empowered to harrass citizens until they surrender even the most personal information to faceless government officials. And these organizations certainly do "eat out our substance," as is demonstrated by the excuse of the Census Bureau that they are providing jobs for people otherwise unemployable. So our substance is transfered to people who cannot find productive employment for the sole purpose of violating our rights at our own expense! (Rational Jenn is definitely on to something in her discussion of the sanction of the victim).

Or what about this one?

"He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation..." Has not our own government recently, in the name of 'multiculturalism' and 'citizenship in the world' been willing to forgo our national sovereignty on a multitude of issues, thus subjecting American citizens to violations of their rights that the federal goverment exists to protect? Think about it with respect to our government's acquiesence to the World Court or to foreign governments in matters of transport, trade and resource use.

I am sure that every reader could tackle one or two of the crimes of the king and find ways that we, a free people, acquiesce every day to what our founders considered tyranny.

But my point here is that those patriots were protesting behavior by governments that was accepted as appropriate then and, for the most part, now. And not only did they complain about it, the staked their "lives, fortunes, and sacred honor" on their right to be free of it. They armed themselves, marched out to the battlefield and were soundly defeated over and over again by a professional army quartered among them before they won their freedom.

Why? N. and I believe that it was because they understood something that we have forgotten. There is no such thing as partial liberty. Either we are free and independent or we are subjects and dependent. And in this day of the Nanny State, many of us do not protest the gradual usurpations of our independence, lulled as we are by the comfortable numbness of cradle-to-grave government meddling.

Our founders were made of sterner stuff. They understood that to be free is to be responsible for one's own life and fortune; that people cannot be coerced into freedom and righteous behavior--they must choose it, live it and defend it. They reckoned that submission to even the most innocuous of violations would lead inevitably to servitude:

"An incautious people may submit to these demands, one after another, until its liberty is irrevocably gone, before they saw the danger. Injuries small in themselves, may in their consequences be fatal to those who submit to them; especially if they are persisted in. And, with respect to such injuries, we should ever act upon that ancient maxim of prudence, obsta principiis.* The first unjust demands of an encroaching power should be firmly withstood...And oftentimes it may be both the right and duty of a people to engage in war rather than give up to the demands of such a power, what they could, without any incoveniency, spare in the way of charity..."

--Simeon Howard, Sermon Preached to the

Ancient and Honorable Artillary Company of Boston, 1773.

Obsta Principiis: Resist the first advances. That's what they did at Lexington and Concord.

I believe that lurking somewhere in the souls of a free people, there is an understanding of another maxim: "Give 'em an inch, and they'll take a mile!" So it is.

And so this July 4th, I hope that many of us will consider the wisdom of resisting the first advances encroaching on our liberties. Take some action, some small step towards an understanding of and a defense of our American ideals. I believe that lurking somewhere within us is the strength and resolve of our founders, the resolve to resist the first advances.

Photo Credits: 1) Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia.

2) Lexington Green Memorial, names of those who died, 18 April 1775. (E. Levin, 2004)

3) Living History Minuteman, On the Green at Lexington, MA. (E. Levin, 2004)

4) Minuteman Memorial, On the Green at Lexington, MA. (E. Levin, 2004)

The Glorious Fourth!

Old Glory Flies from the mast of the USS Constitution

I took the picture on the Turn-Around Cruise, July 19, 2004.

Have a wonderful 4th!

Long may we remember and exercise Liberty, secured

at so great a cost

by the patriots of the American revolution.

"...Our Lives, Our Fortunes, and Our Sacred Honor

In the summer of 2001, I spent the Glorious Fourth at the Aleph Summer Kallah. A Kallah is a period of Jewish study undertaken traditionally in the summer, after Shavuot.

The 4th of July was on a Thursday that year, and Thursday is a Torah reading day in the synagogue. We had morning services with Rabbi Arthur Waskow in the big tent that is part of Kallah.

I don't remember what Torah portion was read that day, but I will never forget the Haftarah (prophetic reading). Rabbi Waskow stood at the Bimah and chanted to the tune of Haftarah Trop:

"In Congress, July 4, 1776: When in the course of human events..."

He chanted the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. When I was growing up, it was the custom the read the Declaration out loud on the 4th at the park before the fireworks. But to place the Declaration in the canon of prophetic writings was not something that I had ever considered. And yet, Rabbi Waskow was right--it is a prophetic document in a very real sense. The reading sent shivers up my spine.

We discussed the Declaration rather than having a D'var Torah (sermon). I do not remember the particulars of the discussion, but the import was the idea that the Eternal Creator of the Universe delights in human freedom and self-determiniation. There were many important rabbis in the Jewish Renewal movement there that day, so I did not contribute until the end of the discussion.

I suggested that Rabbi Waskow chant also the end of the Declaration for it is a very powerful statement of commitment by the signers of the document. And Rabbi Waskow stood aside and called me for the honor of chanting these words:

"... And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."

I have always thought these words are the most powerful in the Declaration. To understand how powerful, we must remember that to sign this document was an act of treason in the eyes of King George. And this was no hollow statement. The penalty for treason is death.

It is easy for us today to forget, as we have our barbeques, and watch the fireworks, that the founders of our Republic did not know the outcome of the revolution that they began. When they got together to "hatch much treason," as Samuel Adams put it, they were taking a very real risk that it might not work out. When George Washington and the Continental Army were starving at Valley Forge, they faced the real possiblity that all could be lost in this desperate gamble, and that tyranny would prevail.

And yet they persisted in their revolution in support of an idea--the idea and ideal that all human beings are created equal and that a nation can be build on the foundation of liberty and self-determination.

Many of those who signed the Declaration did in fact gamble and lose their property; and some their very lives. And even more so, did the ordinary "Americans," who responded to the call of freedom and gave their lives in the monumental struggle to give birth to a nation "conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all...are created equal," as Abe Lincoln so simply and eloquently put it 87 years later.

And I wonder, do we, their spiritual descendents, have that kind of dedication? Do we understand the meaning of staking "our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor" for the ideal of liberty?

I believe that our nation, out of all the nations, has a unique heritage of liberty. We are a people founded not on blood, nor on soil, but on the strength of an idea. Anyone who is willing to pledge life, fortune and honor in the service of this idea is one of us--regardless of birth. Of all of the nations, we have a unique capacity for greatness. But it is up to us to reach for that greatness and pledge everything we are and everything we have, to make it happen. Regardless of the costs.

Our lives. Our fortunes. Our sacred honor.

When we pledge the first two, we create the third.

I am reminded of the poem that is on the Minuteman statue in Concord:

"By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

His flag to April's breeze unfurled.

Here once the embattled farmer stood,

And fired the shot heard 'round the world."

Will the echo if that shot continue to be heard? Do we understand what "sacred honor" means? Would we be willing to give our lives and our fortunes up to the cause of liberty?

Are we willing to demand this of our leaders?

These questions should be foremost on our minds and hearts this Glorious Fourth.