IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America…
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
The purpose of government is to secure, not take away (!), our God-given (Creator-endowed) rights.
And a mere fourteen (14) months after that Declaration was signed, the Congress of the United States of America moved to import 20,000 copies of the Bible.
And ten years after that, when a number of states expressed that the new Constitution did not go far enough to restrict the government and prevent abuses, the response was 10 amendments to further restrict the government and therefore further secure our God-given (Creator-endowed) rights. Those 10 amendments are called the “Bill of Rights” for that reason.
Congress of the United States
begun and held at the City of New-York, on
Wednesday the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.
THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.
…
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The Congress is constitutionally prohibited from making any law respecting an establishment of religion.
Note that establishment of religion is prohibited, but endorsement of religion is not.
The same Congress that passed the first amendment on on September 25th, 1789 was the same Congress that days later asked President George Washington to “recommend to the People of the United States, a Day of public Thanksgiving and Prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful Hearts the many and signal Favors of Almighty GOD”.
The Congress is constitutionally prohibited from making any law that prohibits the free exercise of religion.
Rather than our government securing our God-given right to freedom of religious exercise and expression, our government is actively and unconstitutionally taking away those rights.
These soldiers have every Constitutional right to hand out Bibles. And the military regulation against proselytizing is itself an unconstitutional regulation. The government of the United States of America does not have the right to tell a citizen of the United States, military or civilian, that they cannot hand out Bibles. Quite to the contrary, in our founders’ day, the government of the United States of America voted to import 20,000 Bibles.
Again, what these soldiers were doing was not unconstitutional. Our Constitution does not prohibit proselytizing. What is unconstitutional was the confiscation and destruction of these Bibles. Our constitution prohibits is government interference in the free exercise of religion. The soldiers rights (to hand out these Bibles) are protected by the first amendment, and those rights have been violated.
As a further illustration that the Bill of Rights was about restricting the government, and not about restricting the people, look at the third and fourth amendments:
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Those amendments were to keep the government out of your house, but NOT to keep you from leaving your house! The “wall of separation” is only a one-way wall… to restrict the government, not the citizen! The government is restricted from coming in, but the citizen is not restricted from going out.
It’s the same way with the first amendment… the government is restricted from interfering with the religious activities of the people, but the people are not restricted in what religious activities they can perform.
The meaning of the First Amendment has been turned upside-down, and now our own government is confiscating and destroying Bibles. Insane.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…
Those who can’t handle the truth,
try to silence those who speak it.
——————————
See Also:
God, Moses, Crosses and the Bible in Our Capitol Building