Al Stone

   It was the Sunday before the 4^th of July and as usual our Pastor, Associate Pastor and Song Leader had set about to provide we parishioners with one of the finest patriotic programs one could ever ask for. The American Flag was ferried to the front and properly positioned alongside the Christian Flag; then followed the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag and the Pledge of Allegiance to the Christian Flag You could just see folks being lifted as they stood erect and participated in these “oaths”.

   Then came the children’s choir with an appropriate number followed by the grown-up choir singing a medley of songs design to stir activism as current and former military personnel we called to stand when each song representing their particular branch was offered. The whole scenario was presented in such a way as to allow for quotes from political leaders as well as Biblical verses between songs with quotes being delivered by Pastor and the wife of the Song Leader.

   Following this, Pastor gave a relatively short sermon on the “Spiritual Life of America” and we all retired to the fellowship hall where we proceeded to consume copious amounts of hot dogs, hamburgers, coleslaw and baked beans, topped off with apple turnovers and tea, coffee, water or Lemonade.

   It was a wonderfully planned Sunday and one that will not soon be forgotten, unless of course you’re a student of the real history of these States united. My first indication of some possible inaccuracies came when, upon my arrival, I received and read the weekly church bulletin. It read, “On July 4^th, 1776 the United States of America became a country”. On the contrary!

   On or about July 4^th, 1776, 13 British colonies declared their independence from an abusive monarchy and some 8 years later, in September 1783 King George III granted the colonies their independence. I quote his words from the “Treaty of Paris”, “I hereby declare them [the colonies] to be free and independent sovereign states.” A review of dictionaries – then and now – will show a “state”, “nation” and “country” to be identified as one in the same. Therefore, King George III, by his actions, acquiesced to the creation of 13 free and independent sovereign nations on the North American continent. Not one of these independent bodies owed anything to any other and each was endowed with the thousands of powers and rights of an independent and sovereign nation. They were united only with the common thread that King George III had granted them their independence, at the same time – as individual countries, not as one nation or even a union!

   Following the “Confederation Convention” (more commonly referred to as the Continental Convention) and the proffering of a new form of government under what was termed “The Constitution of the united states of America”, a union of states (or nations or countries) was formed and installed on March 4^th, 1789; this done after 9 of the 13 nations (formerly colonies) had ratified the document.

   “The Union” did not call for each of the states to surrender its independence, freedom or sovereignty and the point was made abundantly clear in the “Federalist Papers” proffered by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison (Madison authored the constitution) for the purpose of interpreting the document. On the contrary; each state was to maintain its autonomy and establish a “Republican” form of government before it could apply for entry into the union. While each country had literally thousands of powers, collectively they relinquished only 18 to the central government, as defined in Article 1, Section 8 of the newly adopted constitution. The “sovereignty of the states” were closely guarded in an effort to prevent the establishment of a strong central government that would slowly and surely usurp the defined powers and ultimately threaten the individual rights of the states and the people, respectively. The great minds of that conference had formed a Constitutional Republic of Republics and not a democracy. In fact the word “democracy” does not appear anywhere in the constitution.

   In short, our founders did not intend for the sovereign states to become one country but a union of independent countries! They referred to it as “the united states of America” – not “America”; that should be an indication that the states formed a union – not one country.

   The Constitution (the document adopted in 1789) requires the President to give a “State of the Union” address to congress every January; it is not a State of the Nation address.

   As for the Pledge of Allegiance: it was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, an avowed socialist who had been excommunicated from his church due to his radical beliefs. His purpose was to deflect the attention of the people from God and their individual states, to a symbol [idol] and one nation, rather than a union of nations. His pledge was adopted by the central government in 1893 and has succeeded in its purpose.

   If the pledge were written in conjunction with the ideas of our Founding Fathers, it would most likely read: I pledge allegiance to the constitution of these united states of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one union, under God, with liberty and justice for all. Thus identifying the constitution (Law of the land) as that which people are pledging their allegiance to, along with a Republican form of government (one operating under the Rule of Law), and finally, by eliminating the word “indivisible”, conforming with the idea of a limited federal government as proffered by our Founding Fathers (Article 1, Section 8) and furthering the significance of the 10^th amendment.

   The great majority of “we the people” have, over the years, been duped to the point where fallacies put forth by teachers, well educated Christian leaders, and other high profile individuals such as politicians and corporate executives, accept what is told since it is offered to us as “gospel”.

   Over the decades/generations, our liberties, freedoms and God given rights as originally intended have been reduced by misinterpretation and misleading teaching. Don’t misunderstand me; I celebrate these united states of America, but for what we were initially designed to be – not what we have evolved into. I submit that an accurate study of our history will lead others to do the same.

   I found that Sunday service to be an interesting contrast: God’s unchanging Word vs. Man’s ever-changing word. So, as Paul Harvey would say – “now you know the rest of the story”.