Soap Box

The pressing problems of the United States of America parallel it's national debt, huge, growing and accumulating the kind of interest this nation can ill afford to pay.

We would like to blame our pandemic of troubles on the men and women who hold political office, and goodness knows, much of the fault can be placed directly on their shoulders.

But when you think rationally about our politicians you have to admit that they are nothing more than a representation of the collective needs, wants, greed, sloth, fear and morality of the nation who put them in office.

The vacuum of leadership in the White House, the malaise and childishness of Congress, the backbreaking entitlement programs, the loss of manufacturing to other nations, America's lack of prestige and respect, the deep racial and financial divisions in our society and the lions share of the other numerous problems our nation has accumulated are not directly the fault of the elected politicians but of the electorate which empowered them.

Our politicians are nothing more than a reflection of the self centered, fragmented, uninformed naive and apathetic people we have allowed ourselves to become.

When this nation was formed, the forefathers who framed our constitution and other historical federal papers that chart the course for America made it very clear that they feared any monolithic form of government and went to great pains to create a separation of powers, each being a counterweight to the others, each having the power to block any legislation they felt would be harmful to the people they represented.

Executive fiat was meant to be nothing more than a convenience, a courtesy to the president allowing him to exercise it in minor things like pardons and small allocations. The founders never meant it to be used to establish major policy or pass laws without the approval of the Congress and Senate. 

Unmonitored executive privilege is tantamount to monarchy, unchecked monolithic power that violates the very spirit of a constitution authored by men who had just escaped from under the tyrannical thumb of King George.

Yet America of today tacitly accepts this fallacy, many uninformed to the point of having no idea of what the ramifications will be.

The public school system in America is the most brilliantly conceived, best financed and most comprehensive in the world, at least on paper. In actuality, our educational system is an inefficient, inadequate political football, controlled not by quality of education but the insatiable thirst for power and control.

It allows incompetence and mediocrity.

And America yawns and goes along.

In 1963 when the Supreme Court ruling came down about school prayer, I, along with the majority adopted a "what a shame, but I can't do anything about it" attitude and moved on, never realizing the implications of what was happening that day, the far reaching ramifications of the length this ruling would be stretched to.

Many people will tell you that the U.S. Constitution mentions separation of church and state.

Untrue, that statement was made in a private letter written by Thomas Jefferson and was never an inference that the church should have no part in the governance of this nation.

Instead the First Amendment to the Constitution simply states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof�, which actually protects the church from government, not the other way around. 

This nation was discovered, founded, fought for and established by men and women of the Christian faith and the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, Bill of Rights and all our meaningful federal papers were written, signed and executed by God fearing men.

Our president recently told the world that America is no longer a Christian nation, which speaking in terms of the overwhelming majority of the religious people in America is an out and out lie.

We are a secular society, that is true, people are free to practice whatever religion they choose openly and unmolested in America, that is also true, but the fact remains that America was founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs, our federal papers, statuary and national protocol reflect it.

And whether president Obama likes it or not the majority of religious people in the nation he presides over are Christians. But you'd never know it by taking a look at what is going on.

Our Judeo-Christian majority have sat on the sidelines for decades while our politicians have passed law after law that directly violates the word of God and now the chickens of our carelessness are coming home to roost as we approach the tipping point, the non productive takers threatening to overtake the productive producers.

The Bible says that if a man doesn't work he will not eat, and if only that one line of scripture would be obeyed in today's society what a difference it would make.

A woman's choice has taken place of the will of the Almighty God who said, �Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.�

Ministers of the Gospel perform same-sex marriages and twist the Gospel, ignoring the passages that don't suit their purposes.

Hardcore pornography inundates our theaters and TV movie channels, child prostitution and sex slavery take place right here in this country, drug lords rule whole neighborhoods, supposed civil rights leaders fan the flames of racial division, our government spends us into a black hole and America turns over and goes back to sleep.

Too long well intentioned people of all faiths have shied away from the political process and refused to be part of the national dialogue, too long we have sat in the pews of our churches, synagogues and temples willing to leave the fate of our nation to those who's goals we don't approve but are too complacent to openly oppose.

And now push has come to shove, what kind of country do we want to leave to our children and grandchildren?

A nation smothered in impossible debt.

A nation who's military has been cut to the bone, dispirited and ill equipped?

A nation that is morally and fiscally bankrupted reduced to near third world status by our excess?

I believe that it is not too late to stop this slide in America, but only if responsible people will come forth and be heard and felt, in the voting booth and in the arena of public opinion.

And it must be a consistent effort, year after year, and election after election, ignoring the mainstream media and following the dictates of our hearts.

Dig a little deeper. Know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

Watch and pray.

What do you think?

Pray for our troops and the peace of Jerusalem.

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels