Nation Under Distress, Part 3

Posted on by Brother Murf

<Continued>

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Experience has taught us that it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession, and when the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” ~George Washington

While there is debate over the voracity and basis of the above quote being from George Washington; however, reading from the etymology of the quotation itself and the perceived basis for those comments, it would make sense that George Washing did say such a thing based upon the variety of statements of numerous others before himself. Even the Bible is based upon the oral tradition and so long as you are bringing forth the honest ideologies of what was spoken before, you are all good.

Which does bring me to this aspect of this blog…the impetus and the basis for the rights of the people for a jury of one’s peers (6th Amendment), the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to redress of our grievances to government. Here it goes, there was a man named William Pitt (the namesake for the state of Pennsylvania):

“The year was 1670, and the case Bushnell sat on was that of William Penn, who was on trial for
violation of a “Conventicle Act.” This was an elaborate Act which made the Church of
England the only legal church. The Act was struck down by their not guilty vote. Freedom of
Religion was established and became part of the English Bill of Rights and later it became the
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In addition, the Right to peaceful assembly was
founded, Freedom of Speech, and also habeas corpus. The first such writ of habeas corpus ever
issued by the Court of Common Pleas was issued to free Edward Bushnell. Later this trial gave
birth to the concept of Freedom of the press...Edward Bushnell and three fellow JURORS learned this lesson well. They refused to bow to the court. They believed in the absolute power of the JURY, though their eight companions cowered to the court. The four JURORS spent nine weeks of torture in prison, often without food and water, soaked with urine, smeared with feces, barely able to stand, and even
threatened with fines, yet they would not give in to the judge. Edward Bushnell said, “My
liberty is not for sale,” though he had great wealth and commanded an international shipping
enterprise. These “bumble heads”, so the court thought, proved the power of the people was
stronger than any power of government. They emerged total victors...Had Bushnell and his colleagues yielded to the guilty verdict sought by the judge and prosecutor, William Penn most likely would have been executed as he clearly broke the law.” ~THE CITIZEN’S RULE BOOK

And let us touch base on the Jury of one’s peers, which all too many are truly lost at what their purpose is.

“Our forefathers felt that in order to have JUSTICE, it is obvious that a JURY of “PEERS” must
be people who actually know the defendant. How else would they be able to judge motive and
intent? “PEERS” of the defendant, like RIGHTS of the JURY have also been severely tarnished.
Originally, it meant people of “equals in station and rank,” (Black’s 1910), “free-holders of a
neighborhood,” (Bouvier’s 1886), or “A companion; a fellow; an associate. (Webster’s 1828).”

There is a problem in this country of ours! I am not the only one to see this, by I, believe, I am doing my part as a minister, a Christian, and a man of the Bible…of course, I must reiterate that I am not a very good one! But then again, none of us are very good according to the Bible!

At what point will America and Americans realize that there is something severely wrong with this country? And furthermore, at what point in time will they do their part to correct these things? I am afeared that we are beyond the point of no return, but of course if you ask my wife I am not much of a betting man either! One day far into the future, someone will ask of their great grandparent(s) a very astonishing question: “How could you have allowed this to happen?” Of course, we were reminded by Ronald Reagan long ago of the following:

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.” ~Ronald Reagan

And Thomas Jefferson told us a very long time ago: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” And he often believed that Americans should stand up and have either a revolution or civil war about every twenty years. Our country, by the sole fact that the politicians have gone awry for so long and without checks or balances by the American people. Our government screws things up, spends untold Billions, if not Trillions, of dollars that we have so much money in circulation that our one dollar bill is worth less than 4 cents, probably less. (Of course I am comparing to the time when the Federal Reserve was enacted into law and we had both a gold and silver standard to back our money.) But somehow our wayward representation finds time to give themselves a raise $5K here, $10K there, and yet those on Social Security are given a paltry 1, 2, or 3%, if they are to receive one. Think on that for a moment or two!

It is my hope and prayer you will see this as a call to arm yourself with the necessary information to equip yourself for the politicians and make them do their rightful job, not make themselves rich off of your back. Stand up and be counted! Stand up and be heard! We also have a need to become closer to God. The utopia that so many are seeking is not here under man’s rule but following the ways of God and glorifying Him with our actions. We will all fall, we will all fail, but we can get back up again to serve Him, because He is a big enough God to forgive us our sins. We just have to repent and follow Him, changing our way of thinking.

May God Richly Bless & Guide You, My Beloved!

MK Murphy

Partly inspired by the following:

citizens-rule-book___jury-handbook___-2Download
carltext.pdf-carl-miller-2Download

CAVEAT: I never intend to make this a political thing, however, when the sinews of politics move over into the morals of this nation I am forced to take a good hard look at it all. And then see how the Bible is applicable to this whole situation. While this is not a Christian thing to say, but in the movie Billy Jack he made a very astute observation: “When policemen break the law, then there isn’t any law — just the fight for survival.” When people find their backs against the wall, they are forced to either surrender, or fight to the end. I am fearing this is what is being foisted upon the American people!

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