Thoughts on the Future of Ron Paul and American Liberty

Well, the news is in. Ron Paul has now formally announced on his website that he will be discontinuing his bid for the presidency. It has now reached the point where it is certain that he will not obtain the Republican nomination, and that it would be too costly to continue his campaign.

Ron Paul may be down for today, but he is not out. If at all possible, I plan on writing him in when I cast my vote for U. S. President this year.

No doubt John McCain has the majority of support from the GOP, and Barack Hussein Obama seems to be leading the Democratic side of the race. Both are just as unprincipled and wrong, and there is no way I am voting for either of them; they are not the least worthy of my support.

Now, the people of America are increasingly disfavoring the war in the Middle East, and Obama has spoken against it as well. McCain, on the other hand, has said that he is willing to stay in Iraq for another full century if he deems it necessary. Given his war-mongering mentality, he would no doubt use every excuse in the world to send America at war with other nations who don't like us, as well. For nearly a century, hardly a generation in America has come and gone that has not gone to war abroad, over matters of foreign policy. By now, the people of our nation are coming the realize the high cost of living lives of war, and we are sick and tired of politicians who send us and our fellow-countrymen to give their lives for those politicians' popularity.

However, the people of America are also not terribly fond of the folly and nanny-like mentality that the liberal Democrats have consistently betrayed. Americans are against war, because they love their country. One does not have to love war to love his country, and we are realizing that the liberals hate America and everything it stands for.

The results of this election, if indeed decided in a purely constitutional manner -- by the people of America and their representatives, will be determined solely by whether Americans are willing to put a liberal in power in hopes that the war will end, or whether they are willing that the war should continue, just to keep a liberal out of office.

But it doesn't have to be that way. If enough people write Ron Paul in for President, our nation may still have a chance, politically speaking. I think that our political future on a national scale would be a lot brighter if a true, principled Republican were elected to office.

HOWEVER, let's keep in mind that Ron Paul's message has been focused largely on diminishing the size of the federal government. Of course, that would remove many barriers to the free excercise of our constitutional rights, but it also means that much more personal responsibility would fall on the shoulders of the individual citizens -- you and I. Our government was meant to dissipate from the local level -- first individuals, then families, than churches, communities, states, and then the nation. Words like "freedom" and "liberty" cannot possses their true meaning if they are synonymous with "licentiousness" and "each one pursuing his own selfish interest." Liberty means doing what is right, without being forced to do it by the coercive power of government. For this reason, our Founders stressed individual morality. It was this theme that was key in George Washington's Farewell Address:

Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who, that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric?

So then, the ultimate destiny of America rides, not on the shoulders of Ron Paul alone, or any other public official. It rides on our shoulders, and our ability to practice and spread the practice of virtue and morality. Christians, first and foremost, should be the leaders in this effort. Without that, our American experiment will crumble entirely. As we see the building blocks of our country fall and shatter around us, let us hope and pray that it is not too late. Let us take our rightful responsibilities, and pray that our efforts are not in vain.

Why don't "mainstream" Christians get it?

Hello everyone. I have hardly been blogging at all these days, and that is why this blog has very little content. Anyone familiar with my other blogs knows that I am a supporter of Ron Paul. Many Christians and other citizens support Ron Paul, and I think that the majority of Ron Paul's support base comes from ordinary, common, everyday American Christian citizens, like myself and my family.

I have noticed that Christians as a whole group are not anywhere near unanimous in their support of Dr. Paul, however. Candidates like Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson (although they are now out of the mainstream race for the most part) seem to be the main candidates for Christians to gravitate towards. But they would find a more faithful friend in Ron Paul, whether they believe it nor not.

Many Christians do not support Ron Paul because he has not supported the Human Life Amendment to the Constitution, but this is a poor reason not to vote for the candidate who is, by far, the best on the block. Ron Paul is pro-life, and his strategy is much better than the one that has been proposed by the mainstream evangelical right. His strategy, and its superiority to the "constitutional amendment" strategy, is explained briefly in the first of the two videos below.

Now, I am certainly pro-life. I would not vote for a candidate that is not pro-life. Anyone who favors or is willing to ignore abortion of any kind is an accomplice to murder of the most gruesome kind, and as such, is not worthy of any public trust whatsoever. So many in the "evangelical Christian right" say that abortion is currently the most crucial moral issue of the day. I agree that it is a serious problem that needs to be taken seriously, and stopped quickly; however, there is a greater moral problem that underlies abortion, and every other immoral ill in this country. This great moral problem is the lack of virtue in the so-called Christian Church in America. Polls show that those who profess themselves Christians do not, as a general group, have greater morals than those who profess themselves non-Christians. Oh yes, these Christians may mentally acknowledge higher moral "standards," but do they live by these standards? It seems that most don't do that very well.

This moral problem in turn, springs out of a view of God, a view of sin, a view of the Gospel, and a view of salvation, that is not found anywhere in the Bible. It is the view that does not demand holiness of the Christian, or of anyone. I have been studying the Bible on this subject for some time now, and will soon post my studies, and my findings, on my personal blog, Herculean Reflections. It may be a while until I post this study, so let me simply say that the book The Way of the Master (by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron) is a pretty good analysis of the problem with the American Church, the problem of our evangelism, and how that is destroying our country. Here is the website. Watch the video "Hell's Best Kept Secret" for an idea. Another video that explains this problem well, is a sermon by missionary Paul Washer. Please watch and listen prayerfully.

In the meantime, I want my readers to carefully and prayerfully watch the following two videos, and then consider the question that follows the videos --

There is a passage in the first video I would like to highlight:

A girl today even if she delivers by herself, is frightened and throws the baby away, she's arrested ... but why isn't that girl acting rationally? It's because she's been raised in a culture and society that says, 'Life has no value.' And, people get paid for destroying life.

And I think that issue, right there, has to be resolved for us as a society. And quite frankly, I don't think that that is going to be resolved by the law; we can have the proper laws to try to regulate this thing. But that isn't it. As a matter of fact, the law isn't what allowed abortion; the abortions were being done in the 60s against the law. The courts came along, and conformed to the social changes and the moral changes, so law reflects the morality of the people.

That doesn't mean we give up on doing our best, to stop abortion due to the law, but ultimately, it's going to be up to us as parents, and ministers, and as Christians to bring about changes. We can't just say, 'Let's wait for that next Supreme Court ruling, that next Supreme Court appointment, and let's avoid my bill that can take care of it by a majority vote from Congress -- let's work to change the Constitution!' Sometimes that's duckin' our responsibility. Because really, deep down, it's going to be a moral issue -- us as individuals, how we raise our children, how we talk to our friends and neighbors, and what we do in our churches, and that ultimately will make the difference. I think that the easiest and the best and the most proper way under the Constitution, not only with the abortion issue, but with prayer in school and marriage as well, these things should be taken out of the hands of the federal court. This doesn't mean that we can't work for better justices, that we don't have to work for a constitutional amendment -- this a majority vote in Congress, signed by the President, and you can change all this.

Ron Paul has taken a similar stand, and further detailed his vision, in a speech that he made on the floor of the House of Representatives in 2004, concerning the Indecency Act. I have written about his speech, and given a link to the whole text of it, here.

The second video is provided by Christians for Ron Paul. Check out their website!

Unless the Christian community wakes up to the realization that revival is caused only by the repentance and genuine conversion of the Church, which in turn shapes law and public policy, and NOT the other way around, we will only be digging ourselves deeper into the grave of chaos and tyranny.

Vertas est Libertas!

Ron Paul for 2008

This is going to be a temporary blog on which I will post about Ron Paul, and why I support him for United States President. It will seek to educate the minds of Americans in general, and Christians in particular, as to why they should support him. He has been under fire by the media, if he has received much coverage at all. But he is deliberately ignored. This blog is an attempt to make up for their defunct coverage of the upcoming presidential election.

Go Dr. No, and God bless America!

Hello World

Just another little test blog.

Maybe something will come of it, maybe something won't. I have this itch to be TERRIBLY organized about my posts.

In the mean time, remember Vertas Est Libertas ("Virtue is Liberty")!