THE BILL OF RIGHTS
Protecting our Freedom
by
Karl E. Falster, Sr. LUTCF

Howdy everybody and welcome to the 216^th Anniversary of our nations adoption of the 1^st ten Amendments to the Constitution, what we lovingly call the Bill of Rights. The man you call the Founder of our Nation (General George Washington) was a man of staunch integrity, tireless fortitude and devoted to Intercessory Prayer to the Creator of all

the earth. Like our 1^st President, George Washington, we are a praying people: our Brother, the Rev. Dan Hubbell

will ask the Lord Jesus to abide with us in this place.

You and I know most of our neighbors in East Texas get the news, their version of current events off the TV set.

Since the talk coming from the major media is so slanted, only the village fool still believes the media’s undocumented propaganda. I’m convinced you are here because you’re seeking to learn or strengthen your knowledge about the foundations of our country: where we as a nation of communities came from, what prompted our incorporation as

a nation in 1789, and a word or two about the 216 years of struggles since those beginnings and then where we

are today.

I remember my boyhood days as a Cub Scout – in the Wolf Pack, and what that association meant to me as I grew

to manhood. I owe a lot to the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and later the United States Marine Corps as a molder and

maker of honorable trustworthy men. We have with us here today Cub Scout Pack # 392 led by their Cub Master

the Hon. John Whorff to present the colors of the United States of America and the Great State of Texas.   

It is not well known today but there was a length of time from 1600 to 1789 - 189 years - that the New World of North America had no United States. While there was adventure and excitement in the New World, there was also great danger in those first years, as families came from Europe cooped up in small ships and landed on wilderness shores- it was also a time that man was calling on God for perseverance in adversity. Queen Elizabeth I had passed away and a young King named James I came to the throne. And one of his first acts was to have the Bible translated into the common language. We call it today the King James Authorized 1611 version of the Bible.

From the writings of those early settlers and adventurer seekers we can discover that the worship of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost played the guiding role in their dealings with one another in their families, society and government. Their desire for freedom of worship became a source of distinction between them and their Mother countries – Great Britain and the Netherlands . The larger of the first settlements was made by the Dutch in New York, which was originally called New Amsterdam That Dutch colony comprised an area which is now the home of New Jersey, Delaware, and New York.

This was a very large region with very few settlers, so one way of attracting families to move to the New World was to assure new settlers the concept of religious toleration as a legal right on the North American Continent. Freedom of religion was an explicit order of the Dutch government. The Dutch government along with the East Indian Trade Company decided to attract people, “through attitude and by example, drawing the natives and non-believers to God’s word and never to persecute someone by reason of his religion and to leave everyone the freedom of his conscience”.

Those instructions, orders, and law were derived from the founding document of the Free Dutch Republic, the 1579 Union of Utrecht. It stated “that everyone shall remain free in religion and that no one may be persecuted or investigated because of religion.”

That document was the basis of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, where it says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there of."

Clearly, our laws in this land, given to us by the Founding Fathers, were not something they just dreamed up after they whipped the British in the Revolutionary War. Our laws of freedom and ownership of private property go back to the beginning of Christianity itself. The bedrock of our freedoms as American citizens is laid on the very teachings and truths of the Apostles of Jesus Christ.

The modern concept of "separation of church and state" is so far removed from the original meaning of the First Amendment that it is downright preposterous. All the First Amendment does is prohibit (the federal government) Congress from passing any law establishing a state church or from prohibiting our free exercise of religion.

The notion that James Madison and the other authors of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights intended to prohibit children from praying in school, state and local governments from posting the Ten Commandments or erecting Nativity scenes is the invention of modern-age radical humanists, whose real goal is to eviscerate, gut, tear apart, America's Christian heritage. Such reasoning is a complete inversion of the real meaning of the First Amendment. All the First Amendment was designed to do was recognize religious liberty, something Americans enjoyed until the infamous Supreme Court decisions in 1962 and '63.

That said; let’s understand that the Dutch notion of religious toleration was mimicked to a degree by the English colonies. Over in Merry old England internal strife was the rule - Catholics at war against the protestants, the King was beheaded by the Presbyterian protestants, then with the death of Oliver Cromwell, another Catholic king was called, and then there came the establishment of a mandatory national church known as the church of England. All this turmoil and persecution put great pressure on Godly people seeking their free exercise of religion. The great hope in the New World was new land for farming and raising families, and freedom from state religious persecution. Well they came to the New World any way they could get here. Some saved money, some borrowed the money, some sold themselves into slavery but the English came in droves. This huge influx of Englishmen brought on strife with the Native Americans and the Dutch. Which eventually lead to the new English King, Charles II sending Troops to the Colonies, forcing the Dutch to surrender and providing war with the Indians and with the French in Canada .

Over time, there was a continuing build-up of English troops and royal bureaucrats. The new King, George III required colonial families to pay for these buildups – through taxes. Additionally he forced them to keep troops in their homes as well as many other grievances. Let’s look at just a few of these they listed in the Declaration of Independence: "He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance."

Sounds like the policing and taxing agencies of today, our bureaucrats

"He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the civil power."

That is exactly what the military industrial complex, the Pentagon and Department of Defense has financially done to us

Just hitting on these few highlights we see the Colonies were losing their rights as Free Englishmen and a servitude relationship with the mother country had emerged. Underlying these political, economic and moral issues was the notion, a new idea of individual self-government, a notion Colonial Preachers said is clearly taught in the Holy Scriptures.

For one hundred years before and during the War of Independence there was a group of heroic men referred to as the "Black Regiment". The very name enraged the British armies. As heroes in the war, their courage and leadership were hailed throughout the colonies from Main to Georgia . As a "regiment", they never once drilled together, yet the strategic impact of their highly disciplined attacks was overwhelming. As a unit, they never fought together on a particular field of battle, yet without question, their leadership provided the spark which ignited victory after victory.

This "Black Regiment" was responsible for providing the conviction and wisdom necessary for winning a war against the cruelty of an unjust government. What was the "Black Regiment"? Actually, it wasn't a regiment at all. This name referred to American Pastors: Presbyterian, Congregationalist, and Baptist clergy. That’s right, the preachers and pastors of that day laid the Biblical Foundations for the Freedoms we enjoy today.

British sympathizers (Loyalists) labeled them “Black Regiment” because of the black robes worn by the ministers when they ascended their pulpits each Lord's Day.

The Platoon Leader of the Colonial Minutemen at Concord Bridge was their Local Pastor who directed his men to fire the first shots of the War of Independence. We call it “The shot heard round the world!”

So influential were the pulpits it was said in London, "Cousin America has run off with a Presbyterian parson."

There is a story about the Rev. Peter Muhlenberg who on Sunday morning January 21, 1776 started the church services in Woodstock, Virginia as usual. For the sermon, he took his text from the third chapter of Ecclesiastes: "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace."

It is said that he concluded, "Men, this is a time of WAR! Tomorrow, I will lead 300 of you from this county and we will form the nucleus of the Eighth Virginia Colonial Regiment- FOR FREEDOM!"

The pulpits of that era were anything but neutral. They certainly did not subscribe to the error of psychological reasoning and passive assurances so dominant in many churches today. These men did not fear the government and they challenged those to whom they preached to act on God’s word and to fight against tyranny and immorality of every kind.

You now know the why and where the Bill of Rights came from. Frankly it took a war of separation from the British Government for them to be secured for your safety and prosperity today. The Founders fought a war for Independence, many lost their lives and most lost their fortunes and we have sat by and allowed the loss of practically all those freedoms to a bunch of professional liars and thieves, bless their hearts, we call them politicians.

The foundations of our government were systematically identified by pastors, from the Scriptures, in fact these men of God preached to the very men who framed the document we call the Constitution of the United States . For example, in the Scriptures we find God making three separate but equal spheres of sovereignty. First he created the Family, then the Church, then Government. Each of these separate but equal institutions has their powers and responsibility. The framers of our government likewise established three separate branches of government the Legislative, Executive and Judicial, each separate but equal in power.

Very distinct powers are given to each branch so as to have them in balance in order to check the growth of each other branch. All powers not delegated to the Federal Government were retained by the people and the States in which we live.

However, the Constitution itself is a structural document for the establishment of a free Republic of States coming together in Union for the purposes of mutual protection, prosperity, and continuity of governance with each other and foreign powers. The Black Regiment was concerned that it did not address those ancient customs and traditions that were hard fought and won over hundreds of years. The leader of that group of men was a Virginian named George Mason.

They thought that the Constitution should be changed or amended to protect certain fundamental freedoms, after all, a war for independence from an oppressive government had been won at great cost. On December 15, 1791, ten amendments were added to the US Constitution. These amendments guarantee certain freedoms and rights of the people to protect themselves from any attempt by the National Government, yes our Federal Government to ever again oppress the people, so they are known as our Bill of Rights.

Some of our freedoms and rights protecting us against an oppressive government; found in the Bill of Rights include: Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Assembly, Freedom of Speech, The Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Freedom from Unreasonable Search and Seizure without Probable Cause, and Protection for those Accused of Crimes.

Every Right is important, our founding fathers listed our rights numerically by importance, and this order of importance still applies today. If the basis of your knowledge of current events is only the National Media, then you will not be aware of the recent current events involving violent enforcement of bureaucratic rules and presidential executive orders, and the so-called Patriot Act. These are effectively destroying the 1st, 2nd, and then the 4th, 5th, 6th & 7th amendments to the Constitution.

By Law, the role of the federal government is to secure the rights given to us by God; namely, our right to life, liberty, and (earning) property.

Today, on the anniversary of the Bill of Rights, we have good reason to celebrate these Doctrines of Individual Liberty. These 1st Ten Amendments to the Constitution are YOUR Bill of Rights.

Many are saying that the doom of our family’s freedoms are looming on the horizon, many are saying that we will soon be made a part of the third world country of Mexico, Many are saying that the next election will be a turning point in the history of our country.

The Bible says that we Christian people are to be the salt and light of the world. Further it warns us: If the Foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do?

So, I close with this question put to Mr. Benjamin Franklin, one of our Founding Fathers, as he came out of Constitution Hall, after the signing of the US Constitution in 1787, “Sir, we have given you a Republic, if you can keep it.”