Tag Archive for: morality

The Importance of Political Morality and Virtue

Welcome to episode one of the KrisAnne Hall TV Show. New editions are planned for publication on a weekly basis. You can also get these from our YouTube Channel. Choose whichever is most convenient for you.

Political Morality and Virtue

https://youtu.be/kNXvVkhFTso

Obama Care is Not the Issue

Five days before his inauguration Obama said exactly what his intentions are; “We are five days from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” Obama Care is not the problem and if we don’t our heads in the right place it may soon be too late! And when it comes to political parties, there is no difference between the Republicans and Democrats. George Washington warned us about political factions and was not affiliated with any party. Take my state, Florida. We have Republicans everywhere and should be the most liberty minded state on the planet, but our Republican Governor is just like the Democrat before him. But other Republicans won’t speak out because liberty is not the focus, party affiliation is and we are morally bankrupt and until we found our moral compass and put liberty in focus nothing will change.

Patriot or Politician?

I was recently called uncivil. What was my uncivil behavior? I called a lie a lie in the face of a liar. If that is uncivil behavior, then I suppose I have been classified. However, I believe we have been given a magnificent heritage. Men and women have lived their lives in great sacrifice and given their last breath to secure a nation for our children. This nation they built was to be a beacon of hope to the world: A light of Liberty and a shining example for future generations. The foundation of that hope and Liberty is the Constitution of the United States. We have too long stood silent over the denigration of their sacrifice.

When people who wrap themselves in the flag and call themselves representatives speak lies and operate to destroy and ignore the Constitution of the United States they spit on that sacrifice. Is this behavior demanding of civil response? Would you allow someone to stand in front of George Washington, Sam Adams, or Abigail Adams and slap them in the face with no recourse? Yet day by day worse occurs. Our children are brain washed, our people are deprived of their God given rights, and our government is the chief perpetrator and violator! There is no distinction between political parties any longer. The only distinction that remains is those who support truth, Liberty, and the Republic by standing firmly in defense of the Constitution and those who will not. You classify yourself by your actions.

I have been called apocalyptic. Perhaps I should not shun that title because if you cannot see the day of reckoning coming, you are dead to this world. We have a Supreme Court Justice who has told her own nation and the entire world that the Constitution is a piece of garbage. The Constitution is the very document that stands between our Liberty and Oppression and a guardian of that document has called it trash. And what has been the response of the nation? Silence. Oh sure there have been a few of us that have been outraged, but what about our representatives? James Madison gave them the charge of being the sure guardians of our Liberty; where is their outrage? We have a Department of Justice that is busy arming our enemies to enable them to disarm the people. They have allowed the murder of our people on foreign soil without any apology or consequence. When questioned by Congress, they refuse to answer every question, evade responsibility and thumb their noses at the very authority our Constitution places over them. Do you not understand that when the Executive Branch refuses to submit to Congress, they are really refusing to submit to YOU? What has been Congress’s response to all of this? They have busied themselves with hearings, investigations and speeches, but no action, no consequences. This is nothing but smoke and mirrors to keep the people pacified while they seek and destroy the very foundation of our Republic. When will enough be enough? When will we, the possessors of our Liberty, by the Grace of God himself have the courage to stand in the face of liars and call them out for their lies?

Perhaps you are still hoping to get the pet piece of legislation passed? Maybe you are hoping to gain the favor of your paid employee to achieve some greater good? What is the price of your voice? Nay, what is the price of your child’s life? Do you moderate yourself for political favor? Do you compromise yourself for influence? Do you actually believe that your “civil” behavior is being rewarded by the pusillanimous in political office? You kid yourself. They shake your hand and give you a sweet smile, promising you only what they themselves want to accomplish. When you leave the office they laugh at you and mock you. They view you as weak, useful idiots that support their corruption and guarantee them a future full of greed and deceit. You have allowed this nation, with your behavior, to be betrayed by a kiss and 30 pieces of silver.

How much longer will allow this destruction to continue without challenge? I am convicted by the words of John Adams.

“Posterity! You will never know how much it costs the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in heaven that I ever took pains to preserve it.”

I will not make excuses for my behavior because there is NO EXCUSE to be made for standing for what is right and for the gifts that God has given me. I will not apologize for calling a liar a liar. Who was that liar? A member of the Florida Senate. OH MY, the crowd gasps, she has just called a “sitting senator” and liar! Blasphemy! May I use a word or two in response? Hypocrite…Coward. A Senator is someone who has taken an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. That is the oath that our framers took when they pledged life, fortune, and sacred honor to give us the gift of this nation. That is the price John Adams refers to when he reminds us of how much it cost to secure the Blessings of Liberty. That means you stand with the Constitution in the face of opposition, in the face of tyranny, in the face of ALL who even suggest trampling that jewel. It is not open for compromise; it is not open for irreverent change. Those who will compromise, criticize, or scorn the principles of Liberty are not keeping their oath. They do not deserve the title of senator, representative, or any other title bestowed by the power of the people through the Constitution they hate so much. The only titles they deserve are enemy of the Constitution and traitors!

Since those we have hired to protect and defend the Constitution are now refusing to do so, I will take that charge. Those of you who wish to apologize for my behavior; No thank you. You classify yourself by your behavior; I don’t need you to apologize for mine. Save those apologies, you are going to need them when you have to answer to future generations and explain to them how little their liberty meant to you and how easily you were bought. I call myself a Christian, not because I go to church, but because I have given my life to Christ. I call myself an American Patriot, not because I attend a tea party meeting, but because I have given my life to protect and defend the principles of Liberty that make this nation great. I stand firmly on the Constitution. I give no apologies, I give no excuses. The stand I take is an old one, I claim over 700 years of sacrifice for Liberty. I will not defend my actions for answering the charge to “secure the Blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” I don’t need to defend my actions. If calling out a liar and a traitor is uncivil, then uncivil I will remain. Only those who will not stand or those dedicated to the destruction of the Constitution need to defend their actions.

Let us be clear. I will not cower, capitulate, or comply. Patrick Henry, Sam Adams, Elizabeth Adams, Mercy Otis Warren all deserve my life, fortune, and sacred honor. How will you classify yourself? Are you a Patriot or are you a politician?

 

“If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” Sam Adams

Can We Legislate Morality?

“Can we legislate morality?”  This is a very relevant question that deserves a serious answer.  But what is really meant by this question?  The idea of “legislating morality” often gives people the impression that we can create a moral society through the creation of laws.  Fact is – we cannot.  As a prosecutor I became acutely aware of the apparently widely held view that the criminal justice system will “reform” people.  We could save ourselves a lot of heartache and a lot of money if we just accepted the reality that the criminal justice system, our jails, our prisons, are not designed to reform people, they are designed to punish people for doing bad things.  The punishment is what is supposed to make people change their mind about committing future crimes.  More laws and more prisons will not magically create a moral society.

We cannot deny, however, that all laws are based upon shared moral values.  When a society loses that morality, we find ourselves in a situation where we are tempted to compensate by creating more laws.  This is what causes people to put the cart before the horse and believe morality can be, or should be legislated.  We have become a society that treats symptoms instead of diseases.  This situation is no different.  The symptom is an ever increasing lawless society; the disease is an ever decreasing moral society.  If we want the government to stop “legislating morality”, we must become, once again a society of individuals that upholds our shared moral values.  We may not be able to legislate morality, but as our founders warned, we cannot afford to lose it.

John Adams stated in an address to Officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts in 1798: Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

Adams believed that America’s unique moral character provided security for the future:

While our country remains untainted with the principles and manners which are now producing desolation in so many parts of the world; while she continues sincere, and incapable of insidious and impious policy, we shall have the strongest reason to rejoice in the local destination assigned us by Providence.

He then issued this warning:

But should the people of America once become capable of that deep simulation towards one another, and towards foreign nations, which assumes the language of justice and moderation while it is practicing iniquity and extravagance, and displays in the most captivating manner the charming pictures of candor, frankness, and sincerity, while it is rioting in rapine and insolence, this country will be the most miserable habitation in the world; because we have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.

Adams was attempting to impress upon these military men that the power wielded by an immoral society could not be restrained by the best Constitution and could be lethal to Liberty itself.

Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net.

Some of the shared moral values, such as respect for life and charity toward the helpless, are contained in the great faith systems of the world.  For our founders it was the Judeo-Christian foundation that guided their value system, and it is interwoven into their writings and our founding documents. A shared morality is not the same thing as government-enforced religion, but historically a shared morality has been rooted in a shared sense of higher purpose and an acknowledgement of a higher power, or at least some awareness of a spiritual aspect to our daily lives.  But according to Many Say ‘So what?’ to Religion, Atheism published in USA Today, a growing number of people simply do not care about matters of faith and morality.  I believe this is not just a problem for the religious community, but this has grave implications for the future of our nation.  If we eliminate or disregard the basis for our common values, we begin to slide further and further into lawlessness.

The article in USA Today implies that America is becoming a nation free of religion; people simply don’t think of God and don’t find religion necessary to maintain their “happiness”.   Barry Komsin, director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society for Trinity College states in this article:  But a lot of these people are concerned more with the tangible, the real stuff like mortgages or their favorite football team or the everyday world,” Kosmin says.  The bottom line for these folks is “as long as I have my stuff, I am happy and do not need a religion or God.”

I believe this focus, solely on material things, is what is having a devastating effect on Liberty.  The reality is that a vast majority of our citizens would have an easier time naming all the judges on American Idol than those on the Supreme Court of the United States.  Meanwhile our Liberties are being eroded, degraded, and destroyed right under our noses and most don’t care because they got a flat screen TV for Christmas and more channels than they could possibly watch in a lifetime. While we should be trying to stop this whale of an administration from tearing the nets of Liberty in America, we are tweeting the latest escapades of the Kardashians or informing our Facebook friends of our location and menu choices.  We are completely ignorant of our obligations as Americans to require our government to protect Liberty and of our responsibility to maintain that Liberty. Few have a sense of anything greater than “right here, right now.”   Two testimonials from this article reflect this mentality:

When Ben Helton signed up for an online dating service, under “religion” he called himself “spiritually apathetic.”  Sunday mornings, when Bill Dohm turns his eyes toward heaven, he’s just checking the weather so he can fly his 1946 Aeronca Champ two-seater plane. Helton, 28, and Dohm, 54, aren’t atheists, either. They simply shrug off God, religion, heaven or the ever-trendy search-for-meaning and/or purpose.

Founders like Thomas Jefferson, on the other hand, didn’t think shrugging off God was a good idea for our nation:  Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God?  That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?

Jefferson contemplated the consequences to this nation if we ever forgot that valuable lesson: Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice can not (sic) sleep forever

Ben Franklin reminded his fellow countrymen when Liberty was in peril: In the beginning of the Contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection.- Our prayers, Sir, were heard, & they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending providence in our favor…and have we now forgotten that powerful friend? or do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance?

Franklin knew that without God, Liberty would be short lived.

I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth- that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?”

The USA Today article continues with Rev. Ema Drouillard, who specializes in San Francisco-area non-denominational ceremonies.  Ms. Drouillard “said in 2001 about 30 percent of her clients refused any reference to religion at their weddings.  A decade later, 80 percent of her clients choose her carefully God-free ceremony. The only faith they pledge is in each other.”  Maybe that is why we can look to a man for “hope and change” and find that our country crumbles when we place our faith in man.  But the Ms. Drouillard continues, “A lot of people just aren’t on any spiritual path. They say, ‘We are just focusing on the party.’

That focus is the very thing that drives this disease.  As this article seems to point out, we have become a nation void of any responsibility to God.  Our founders would ask, “How then do we think that we can maintain the gift of Liberty that He has given?”  “How can we give no consideration to the consequences for ignoring that gift?”  I believe they would say that “we have been come self-sufficient, self-made men building an empire of stuff and never once giving thought to the principles of Liberty that makes these things possible. We have forgotten, to whom much is given, much is required.  We have become pacified by our prosperity, lazy in our luxury and have forgotten the dear price that has been paid for this Liberty and the price required to maintain it.”

Our Constitution is dedicated to the promises of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  If we want to maintain this Republic and its promises of Liberty, as Daniel Webster said, we must “hold onto to the Constitution”.  In holding on to the Constitution, we must understand that Liberty is its end and morality is a vital bond that secures its survival.  Our Liberty stands in peril because we have abandoned our moral foundation.  Freedom AND morality are BOTH necessary to maintain Liberty.  The sole pursuit of stuff and satisfaction of self creates a moral vacuum – we must reconnect with a higher purpose.  We must be dedicated to fighting for ALL of the principles of Liberty that make this nation so great!  Because some things remain true:  sparrows still fall, whales break nets, and Liberty cannot last without morality.