The following represents the talk I gave on Saturday 09 Nov 2019 on the National Mall in Washington, DC to a group of Americans struggling to bring America back to its roots. This concerns the 1st Amendment.
Silence!
Every despot and tyrant demands it. Whether it
be a government or a church, whenever you’re told to remain silent, you can
expect tyranny. How many times have you been told it’s poor etiquette to
discuss politics or religion in public? I was coming of age in the ‘60s and it
was prevalent then. That’s over fifty years of influence in my life alone.
Every citizen living under such expectation of
a nation never experiences the opportunity of free speech. In fact, they first
never think freely. They’ve been trained. They already know simple words
attract attention, most of it horribly violent.
When the aggression falls on the citizenry of a nation,
the people must decide. Do they fall to their knees in subjugation, or do they
stand? Think of what we know of other countries and how people responded to
tyranny. Most of us use the term Molan Labe from the Spartan standoff against
the King of Persia who intended to subjugate an entire state. The Scots and
William Wallace stood against the English. Freedom!
It’s obvious stories like these make excellent movies
because mankind loves a righteous struggle against overwhelming odds, even
though the outcome for the participants isn’t guaranteed. The story of America
ranks among the most audacious. We the people, with little more than what we
could carry on our backs, stood up.
It started with a priest in Germany. The Roman Catholic
church demanded only priests could read and interpret scripture. Martin Luther
studied those scriptures and determined there were ninety-five items he didn’t
agree with and posted them on the church door for all the community to see. He
paid for this free thinking with his life, but the actions started a
reformation of the way every day citizens could decide for themselves how to
worship the God of the Universe.
English history reflects the struggle to walk away from
the demands of the Pope. King Henry VIII broke from the Roman church and
founded his own, the Anglican Church of England. As the catholic church
suppressed the people of Spain with a horrendous Inquisition, Henry committed
an inquisition in England. If the citizens didn’t kowtow to his demands, they
were thrown in jail. It was only slightly less violent than the catholic
methods.
From this experience a group of people ran. They left
England and the Anglican Church and moved to the Netherlands. The Spanish
Catholics attacked there to drive out the Protestants being tolerated by the
government, so the English returned to their homeland. They still experienced
subjugation under the British king. It was at this juncture they determined to
get away from the king’s heavy hand. Their ship, the Mayflower, fought heavy
seas and winds to arrive on the shores of Plymouth Rock in 1620, thirteen years
after an Anglican priest arrived in Jamestown.
The point is there’s a long standing history of the
importance to the American people of their motivation to pursue God in a way
that made sense to them. Our very foundation stood on the tenets of the
Christian faith. Even though not every colonialist chose Christianity, the vast
majority of them used the Bible or reading primers with scripture to learn how
to read. They were instilled with a Christian worldview.
We stand in this place today because a king refused to
acknowledge the human rights of his citizens. The same people he was required
by law to watch over and protect. Instead, he sent a standing army to occupy
homes, suppress discussion of his inadequacy, and to quell the voices. People who
had one hundred and fifty years of development as independents far removed from
the king’s influence.
So, we the people listed our issues against the tyrant so
all the world understood our plight. There were twenty-nine issues, among which
were his failure to respond to communication addressing his lack of attention
to the needs of his citizens. “In every stage of the Oppressions we have
Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have
been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked
by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free
People.”
And so it is in today’s world we look back at how America
came to be the most blessed and highly favored among nations. We look today at
our Declaration of Independence and the Constitutional Republic formed so many
years ago. We see plainly the pus of mankind oozing out of our precious form of
government because of the infection afflicting it. We have the right, no the
duty, to call attention to the tyrannical actions exhibited by a bastardized
version of our Constitution.
The 1st Amendment guarantees this right.
“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.”
We now look at the results of our founders work.
Progressives took the initiative at the turn of the twentieth century to create
the very form of government our founders warned against, a democracy where mob
rule reigns. They convinced the nation the people should be electing Senators to
come to Washington. The 17th Amendment structurally changed how the
Constitution’s checks and balances kept us on track. We now have two-thirds of
our Republic under the control of popular vote.
This assembly of people before me stands in agreement
with the Redress of Grievances. You are the voice for the people who won’t
vote. It’s imperative you continue to use your 1st Amendment rights
to free speech and redress. Our government only runs effectively when citizens
participate. The silent majority have trashed our way of life. Many don’t
understand how important the freedom of religion, in the context of the
founding fathers’ Christian heritage, is to keeping America free. It’s so
important it was the first thing our Continental Congress listed.
You are aware of the trampling of our free speech rights
as experienced in the press and on the internet. You are aware of the
continuing persecution of the Christian faith of Americans and the forbidding
of such things as prayer in schools and in our governmental bodies. You know
Congress makes decisions not for the good of the people, but for their own
prosperity. You know our hope lies in pulling down the darkness of progressivism.
You’ve signed petitions. You’ve stood up. Now we must move forward.
Make specific plans to follow up using your right to free
speech. Take the time and effort to write a letter to the editor of your
newspaper. They may not chose to print it, but if you persist and write again,
you’ll find ways to influence them to post opposing views. Talk about the
Redress of Grievances now posted in the White House. Stir up interest in seeing
these grievances addressed and corrected.
And just as importantly, reconnect with your Christian
upbringing. Choose to bring yourself to the table of God’s grace. America has
been and can be a city set on a hill for all the world to see the glory of God.
It will take all of us exercising our first amendment rights to bring us back,
to make America great again.
Do not be silent.
Copyright 2019 Warren A
Johnson
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