In June, 2008 this writer warned readers that the moral decay eroding the foundation of our nation was bringing it within one generation of collapse. I have tracked the decline of the U.S. over the past several decades to various landmark judicial decisions that sought to uncouple our nation from its Judeo-Christian moorings. That decline stands to be greatly escalated by three new judicial decisions over the last three months, which together constitute a “trilogy of tyranny”.
The first decision, in July, 2010, by a federal court judge in Massachusetts, overruled the federal Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”). The second decision, in August 2010, by a federal judge in San Francisco, overruled Proposition 8 in California. The third decision, in September 2010, by another California federal judge, overruled the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, concerning the service of open homosexuals in the armed forces. Individually and collectively, these decisions are a direct attack, not only on our nation’s morality, but also on the separation of powers between our three branches of the government, which is the bedrock of our constitution’s guarantee of a limited, republican form of government.
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"Most of us realize that public policy should be set by the people and their representatives in the state and federal legislatures, and not by unelected federal judges with lifetime appointments who answer to no one." |
Thomas Jefferson warned about federal judges becoming a powerful “oligarchy” that would seek to inflict their will over an unwilling populace. Most of us realize that public policy should be set by the people and their representatives in the state and federal legislatures, and not by unelected federal judges with lifetime appointments who answer to no one. The judiciary was intended by our enlightened founders to be the weakest branch of our government. Yet, it is increasingly usurping the power of the executive and the legislature and is becoming the strongest branch by sheer force of its own unbridled will.
In seeking to impose a new order of sexual immorality on the nation, these self-appointed ministers of modern secularism have taken a sledge hammer to our traditional notions of “religion and morality”–or what George Washington once called “these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens.” Washington’s view was soundly rejected by Judge Walker Vaughn who authored the opinion striking down Prop. 8. In his view, “private morals or religious beliefs” cannot serve as the basis for our laws — at least not in the absence of what he would consider a legitimate “secular purpose”— such as trying to make homosexuals feel good about their conduct or “relationships”.
According to Judge Walker and his followers, apparently Washington would simply be considered an irrational bigot — just like the seven million Californians that voted for Prop. 8 — and the people of 30 other states that also voted to preserve traditional marriage in their state constitutions. After all, the men who drafted the U.S. Constitution considered sodomy a serious crime. It was never tolerated in either the original thirteen colonies or in Washington’s Continental Army.
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"President Lincoln had this to say on the importance of religion in the life of our nation: “It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God…to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures, and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord. " |
I have to ask, are there really any consequences to deviating from the precepts of religion and morality — particularly as they concern traditional marriage? I believe the answer to this question can be found in the writings of one of our greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln.
President Lincoln had this to say on the importance of religion in the life of our nation: “It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God…to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures, and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord. We know that by His divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world.” So if these timeless truths were so obvious to great men like Washington and Lincoln, why do these contemporary federal judges and their leftist leaning cronies find them so difficult to understand?
I am reminded of the fate of the Pharaoh in the Old Testament who would not heed the warnings of Moses to let God’s people leave Egypt. Pharaoh’s heart became so hardened that he was blinded to the severe consequences of his actions even when his kingdom was afflicted with plagues of locusts and frogs and water turning to blood, etc. His own stubborn pride brought him and his unwitting subjects to ruin because he refused to obey the will of God. Our own nation’s current downward trajectory is also now so obvious that it is hard to believe that the haughty and proud leaders of the secularist movement can not see where their disobedience to God’s will is taking us.
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"I still believe that by the grace of God we can turn this around, but only if we genuinely seek His help. And, we must vigorously resist the misguided and increasingly virulent efforts of those who would seek to have us reject the faith and morals that once made us a great nation." |
Most Americans today have lost confidence in their government. Indeed, a recent Bloomberg National Poll found, for the first time in our nation’s history, that a majority of Americans actually believe that our children’s generation will be worse off than our own. This pessimism is well justified by our chronically anemic economy. Even the financial genius Bill Gross, CEO of PIMCO, reported recently that the declining dollar will lead to “a lower standard of living” in this country. He concluded that: “A future of low investment returns, and a heap of trouble for those expecting more, is what lies ahead.” Thus, we are reaping what we have sown. We have to decide if we are going to once again follow the lead of enlightened men like Washington and Lincoln, or let the secularists and their judicial minions hijack the nation and lead it to ruin.
As I predicted just over two years ago, time is fast running out. It has largely been on our watch—the baby boomer generation of which I am a part—that this disaster has happened. I still believe that by the grace of God we can turn this around, but only if we genuinely seek His help. And, we must vigorously resist the misguided and increasingly virulent efforts of those who would seek to have us reject the faith and morals that once made us a great nation. For starters, the three recent judicial decisions, that make up the “trilogy of tyranny,” must be recognized for the miscarriage of justice and usurpation of power that they represent. They must be soundly rejected. If they are not, our fate will be sealed.
Note: My conclusions are based on the monumental study by Joseph Unwin, PhD., “Sexual Regulations and Cultural Behavior”.
S. Michael Craven used the same study for his series, “In Defense of Marriage July 7, 2008-August 18, 2008.
Charles LiMandri is the General Counsel for California for the National Organization for Marriage. In that capacity he was very active in the effort to pass a constitutional amendment to protect marriage in California. He is a member of the Religious Liberty Committee of the California Catholic Conference of Bishops and he served on an advisory committee to the White House on issues of importance to Catholics. An earlier version of this article appeared originally on the Catholic Exchange.
