DON BELL REPORTS

A WEEKLY COMMENTARY

Year Twenty-Seven ... Number Forty-Two ... October 17, 1980

Table of Contents

THE REAL BATTLE BEGINS ON THE FOURTH

"A new movement is abroad in the land, sparked by an idea: that the time has come to restore morality in America," said Dr. Kenneth W. Ryker, associate to Dr. George Benson of the National Education Program. "The idea has been incubating for years," he continued, "and recently numerous new groups have sprung up, such as Moral Majority, Christian Voice, National Federation of Decency, Pro-Family Forum, Eagle Forum, and many others, including the Roundtable, a coalition of concerned national leaders who have one concern -- the moral rebirth of America." The Roundtable held a successful "National Affairs Briefing" in Dallas recently, hopes to hold similar briefings in more cities in the near future. The "morality movement" is having such effect that the national news magazines are writing about "Preachers in Politics," "Born Again Politics," "Politics from the Pulpit," etc. Congressman Lary McDonald commented: "There has been a growing concern about the involvement of Christians in political affairs. This trend seems to be polarizing the Christian community. However, there is increasing realization that the moral basis of our laws is Biblical. So, if Christians elect to remain inactive, they stand not only to lose their country, but also their freedom to worship."

There are those who still believe that Christians should not involve themselves in politics. Perhaps they choose to forget that our officially adopted pledge of allegiance contains the words "one Nation under God." When that phrase was accepted by the House of Representatives, the Report added: "Those words in no way run contrary to the First Amendment but recognize only the guidance of God in our national affairs." Our national motto is "In God We Trust." And further recognition is given by the adoption of the Star Spangled Banner as our national anthem, one stanza of which is as follows:

Since we officially recognize "the guidance of God in our national affairs," it stands to reason that Christians have every right to involve themselves in politics. Indeed, we might agree with Frank Capell who, in his latest Religious News Edition of his Herald of Freedom, insists that "neutrality in politics is rebellion against the Lord Christ."

Accepting the foregoing as evidence that it is in no way contrary to the First Amendment to the Constitution, Dr. Bill Bright of the Christian Roundtable is the author of a kind of "platform" for the Morality Movement, under the title: "Your Five Duties as a Christian Citizen." He wrote: "First, pray that men and women of God will be elected to public office at all levels of leadership. Second, register as a qualified voter in order to practice your citizenship with accountability to God. Third, become informed; organize and lead or participate in a study group to inform yourself and others concerning the structure of government, current problems and issues. Fourth, Help Elect Godly People and support them faithfully throughout their terms of public service. And fifth, Vote, after informing yourself about the candidates and issues, and evaluating them on the basis of the Word of God."

There is, we fear, a more valid criticism of this important movement to restore morality in America. In their efforts to promote candidates and issues, they (the leaders and members of the Christian activity groups) tend to ally themselves with a particular political party or special issue. Because one political party -- usually the Republicans -- seems the better choice if morality and security are to be restored, otherwise well-intentioned groups are in danger of becoming semi-auxiliaries, even satellites, of a political party. This became especially apparent at the Roundtable meeting, which Ronald Reagan attended and Jimmy Carter ignored. However, permit us to draw a Scriptural parallel: The true Body of Christ transcends all denominational and sectarian bounds:

In the same temporal manner, national morality and security transcend all political parties and special interest groups. And, Christians engaging in political affairs have a tendency to say: I am of the Republicans; and I am of the Democrats; and I am for the Libertarians, etc. Is America divided? Is yours a Republican citizenship? Is your special interest going to preserve the union? Seek out Godly men, regardless of affiliation or lack of affiliation, and place them on guard, reminding them that however qualified they may be, this should be a government of law (based on God's Law) and not of men (however Godly). And there is a warning that should be sounded. The Christian Morality Movements presently are aiming at November 4th as their target date. But actually this is only the day of the beginning of the Restoration. For, no matter what manner of men are elected to represent the people in national, state and local offices, there are two great and powerful branches of government that will not be changed, either in personnel or purpose. These are the Body of the Bureaucracy (only the heads can be changed with a change in administration) and Federal Judges, who can be removed only by death, debility or impeachment.

When referring to workers, there is the public sector (government employees) and the private sector (all others). As you know, most public sector employees belong to the Civil Service System. That means that, no matter how good or bad they may be at their job, it is almost impossible to fire them. They are a permanent, entrenched bureaucracy that is not affected seriously by either elections or any resultant Cabinet-level appointments. The Public Service Research Council is a citizens' lobby concerned with the "abuses of public sector unions in the United States." PSRC informs us that "Government employment over the past 20 years has been one of the most expansive areas of the economy. In the period between 1956 and 1978, the private sector work force increased by 41 percent, while the public service work force increased by over 101 percent. At present, roughly one in six American workers is employed by government." Now, the Civil Service System serves as a sort of protective shield to most of these one-in-six. But the real and dangerous control of these workers is vested in labor unions. There was a time, as is evidenced by the public record of Calvin Coolidge in Boston and Washington, D.C., when a public service (government) employee was prohibited from belonging to a labor union. There is such a vast difference between private service and public, or government service, that what might be good for one was, in the public interest, not deemed good for the other. Now that has all been changed, as all the strikers, union violence and extortion tactics will attest. Firemen deliberately setting fires and keeping volunteers from putting them out, striking policemen encouraging crime and disorder, federal employees leaking national security secrets to the press and the enemy, teacher strikes -- these all show that if morality and security are to be restored in America, the work doesn't stop on Election Day. As a very pertinent example, there is the National Education Association, one of the most powerful labor unions in the nation. It was successful in getting its own Cabinet-level Department -- a political payoff by Mr. Jimmy Carter. NEA is determined to impose its grand design for America and the world upon us; and NEA is definitely preaching and promoting the religion of Sectarian Humanism as the religion that is to replace Christianity in these United States and in the United States of the World. After NEA's last national convention, the Phoenix Gazette said: "Perhaps most disturbing of all was the NEA committed to use the classroom for ideological indoctrination of children. The union resolved to 'lead students' away from extremist groups.' The NEA made it abundantly clear that anyone who disagrees with the NEA, is in its view, an extremist group." The Washington Post, hardly right-wing in its usual comments, said: "A self-described left-wing Democrat, Herndon (NEA executive director) has taken the 1.8 million member NEA into politics at all levels, shedding the image of nonpartisanship that was imposed for decades by school boards and accepted without rebellion, by generations of docile teachers." And PSRC (op cit) reported: "At their annual convention, NEA passed resolutions on a wide range of issues: some related to education, but a large number had to do with issues such as lettuce boycott, endorsement of the Equal Rights Amendment, support of free abortions for the poor, opposition to loans to businesses in South Africa, federally imposed bargaining on all state and local government employees, opposition to right-to-work laws, and a long list of others ... The NEA is making the classroom a political arena ... you should be frightened when an admitted left-wing union boss is directing the nation's largest education union's operators. The objectives of the NEA can only be imposed on an uninformed or indifferent public or through totalitarian means." Here is an area that the Moral Majority and its cooperating groups will have to deal with after the elections are completed; because national elections don't affect labor bosses, and don't alter the composition of the body of the bureaucracy that controls and regulates the nation's resources and its people through the Regional Governance arrangement, and its control units such as IRS, HHS, DOE, HUD, EPA, OSHA, and other unconstitutional federal agencies.

There is another extremely powerful, permanently entrenched group that has no fear of the outcome of elections: the judges of the Supreme and the inferior federal courts. According to the Constitution, once a judge is nominated, and approved by the Senate, he will hold his office "during good Behavior." There is a disregarded Constitutional limitation to his powers in domestic affairs: "The judical power shall extend ... to cases in which the United States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more States; between a State and citizens of another State; between citizens of different States; between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States; and between a State, or the citizen thereof, and foreign States, citizens or subjects." Only this and nothing more. Nowhere does the U.S. Constitution permit a federal judge to render the death penalty in the State of Alabama unconstitutional. As a way of avoiding legal jargon while at the same time showing why a politician should never be judged by his words instead of his actions, we'll quote New York Governor F. D. Roosevelt, addressing a meeting of governors on July 16, 1929. He said: "Our nation has become a successful experiment in democratic government, because the individual States have waived in only a few instances their sovereign rights .. but there is a tendency, and to my mind a dangerous one, on the part of the our national government to encroach, on one excuse or another, more and more upon State supremacy. The elastic theory of interstate commerce, for instance, has been stretched almost to the breaking point to cover certain regulatory powers desired by Washington." Later, in a radio address on March 7, 1930, when he was an avowed candidate for the presidency, FDR noted that the States had given the federal government the right to legislate on the subject of liquor (18th amendment). "But this is not the case in the matter of .. the conduct of public utilities, of banks, of insurance, of business, of agriculture, of education, of social welfare and of a dozen other important features. In these, Washington must not be encouraged to interfere." So said FDR before election. After election he proceeded to interfere in every area he had mentioned, and a dozen more. Incidentally, it was FDR and his Fascistic Brain Trust which began the process that made our judiciary what it is today: a denier of justice to the lawkeeper; a granter of dole and criminal license to the lawbreaker.

Interestingly, since taking office in 1977, Jimmy Carter has appointed 264 of the Nation's 648 federal judges. Approximately two out of every five current federal judges are Carter appointees and, as with NEA, he has rewarded the faithful with political appointments. Not to be outdone, Reagan, when asked by a reporter if he would rule out the appointment of a pro-abortion judge, replied, "No, I have to say I would be guided by the whole broad philosophy of the individual who was under consideration."

Finally, an example of extra-cirricular use of the Supreme Court was brought to our attention by Dr. Harry Walkup and an article in the American Sunbeam. It was pointed out that the ERA is meaningless except for Section two, which would allow the federal government to usurp from the States all women's rights and as a corollary all men's rights as well. "The obvious consequence," said Dr. Walker, "would be a centrally controlled totalitarian regime that would control the entire citizenry." However, it was becoming evident that ERA was not going to be ratified by three-fourths of the States. So a court case, "The State of Maine v. Thiboutot," was taken to the Supreme Court, and a decision was rendered June 25, 1980. Result in lay language: A citizen may sue State, County or Municipal officials that deny him any "rights" that are promulgated by any federal law. Now all federal laws are held to be supreme over State laws! In other words, what was to have been done by ERA now has been done by a Supreme Court ruling.

This is why the battle will just begin on November Fourth. All unconstitutional agencies must be killed by cutting off their heads, as has just happened with LEAA. And Congress must restore justice in the courts by legislative action. Our motto: If God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31).

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