This article is from Randy Stufflebeam, chairman of the CP of IL. He sent this out earlier this week and his contact info is at the end.
Dear Constitutionalists,
Having read through several blogs regarding the announcement of Dr. Ron Paul’s endorsement of Chuck Baldwin for President, and especially the comments found on “Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty” website, there was a particular issue that kept rearing its ugly head. It is an issue that makes it apparent that the person making the statement really has no clue about the true history of the United States or how the Constitution Party and its candidates stand on this particular issue. It is an issue that I will call “Political Religiosity.”
It’s interesting that people like to talk about Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson as men who weren’t all that religious; and yet, it was Benjamin Franklin that stood up in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and said:
“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?”
In a letter written to William Strahan three years early, Franklin also stated:
“My dear friend, do not imagine that I am vain enough to ascribe our success [Revolution] to any superiority…If it had not been for the justice of our cause, and the consequent interposition of Providence, in which we had faith, (emphasis mine) we must have been ruined. If I had ever before been an atheist, I should now have been convinced of the being and government of a Deity!”
It was Jefferson who wrote the “Act for Establishing Religious Freedom” and is perhaps the most interesting feature in the revised code of Virginia. With the exception of the Declaration of Independence, it is the most celebrated of Jefferson’s productions, and the one to which he recurred with the highest pride and satisfaction. The preamble which introduces the act defines with peculiar emphasis the premises upon which religious freedom is founded. The following are examples of Jefferson’s writings:
A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom
“SECTION I. Well aware that the opinions and belief of men depend not on their own will, but follow involuntarily the evidence proposed to their minds; that Almighty God hath created the mind free, and manifested his supreme will that free it shall remain by making it altogether insusceptible of restraint; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments, or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, (emphasis mine; note that in writing this document, Jefferson included himself) who being lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in his Almighty power to do,…
· “We have solved, by fair experiment, the great and interesting question whether freedom of religion is compatible with order in government and obedience to the laws. And we have experienced the quiet as well as the comfort which results from leaving every one to profess freely and openly those principles of religion which are the inductions of his own reason and the serious convictions of his own inquiries.” –Thomas Jefferson: Reply to Virginia Baptists, 1808. ME 16:320
· “The constitutional freedom of religion [is] the most inalienable and sacred of all human rights.” –Thomas Jefferson: Virginia Board of Visitors Minutes, 1819. ME 19:416
· “Among the most inestimable of our blessings, also, is that… of liberty to worship our Creator in the way we think most agreeable to His will; a liberty deemed in other countries incompatible with good government and yet proved by our experience to be its best support.” –Thomas Jefferson: Reply to John Thomas et al., 1807. ME 16:291
· “In our early struggles for liberty, religious freedom could not fail to become a primary object.” –Thomas Jefferson to Baltimore Baptists, 1808. ME 16:317
· “Religion, as well as reason, confirms the soundness of those principles on which our government has been founded and its rights asserted.” –Thomas Jefferson to P. H. Wendover, 1815. ME 14:283
· “The Christian religion, when divested of the rags in which they [the clergy] have enveloped it, and brought to the original purity and simplicity of it’s benevolent institutor, is a religion of all others most friendly to liberty, science, and the freest expansion of the human mind.” –Thomas Jefferson to Moses Robinson, 1801. ME 10:237
· “But a short time elapsed after the death of the great reformer of the Jewish religion, before his principles were departed from by those who professed to be his special servants, and perverted into an engine for enslaving mankind, and aggrandizing their oppressors in Church and State.” –Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval, 1810. ME 12:345
While it is true that the majority of the members within the Constitution Party do recognize “Devine Providence” as did our “Founding Fathers,” it is also true that the first American settlers left mother England because of a “religious tyranny” that was propagated there (and, by the way, it was a “Christian” religion). We have no wish, nor desire to establish another here in the United States.
In reading through his writings, it becomes apparent that Chuck Baldwin would disagree with very little that either Franklin or Jefferson wrote in respect to political religiosity. For example in the Party’s recent announcement of his endorsement, Baldwin makes the following statement:
“Ron Paul’s message resonated with people across the political spectrum. Likewise, our campaign embraces Americans of diverse political ideologies, spiritual paths (emphasis mine) and socio-economic groups - all who recognize the urgency of a return to the Constitution and the principles of personal liberty that document defines.” — Chuck Baldwin
Further, Dr. Baldwin writes about his position on “Political Religiosity” in his columns that can be found on his website, http://www.ChuckBaldwinLive.com. Here are examples:
Beyond that, in many respects, the Christian Right has become as totalitarian in philosophy as many of the Pagan Left. One should understand that the extremes of both left and right end up at the same place: tyranny. Take a conservative rightwinger to the extreme and one ends up with Adolf Hitler. Take a liberal leftwinger to the extreme and one ends up with Joseph Stalin. So, which is worse? It is hardly worth arguing about. Tyranny is tyranny regardless of the label of the one exercising it. (December 7, 2007)
When you or I hire an electrician or plumber to do work for us, we sign a contract for specific work to be done. And at the end of the day, I really don’t care whether he claims to be a Christian or where he goes to church or how religious he claims to be. When the work is finished, I want my lights to turn on and my toilet to flush. In other words, I expect him to live up to his contract. When we elect people to public office, we should expect only one thing: that they uphold their contract to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. (October 30, 2007)
I realize what I am about to say will surprise many Christians, but I would far rather elect an unbeliever who will support, protect, and defend the Constitution than a believer who will not support, protect, and defend the Constitution. The oath of office is to the Constitution. That is a civil magistrate’s contract with us–the American people. For example, when I hire a plumber or electrician I am not particularly interested in his church affiliation or personal religious profession. I am contracting a job with him, and at the end of the day, I want my plumbing to work and my lights to turn on. (April 24, 2007)
And even though I am a born again Christian (as is Ron Paul), I would take my responsibility to protect the religious liberty of every American seriously. People have the right to worship God (or not worship God) according to the dictates of their own conscience. Whether one is Baptist, Catholic, Mormon, or agnostic, people have the right to practice their faith as they see fit. I am absolutely dedicated to preserving religious liberty. Religious tyranny is as evil as political or social tyranny. And, as I will be no man’s slave, neither will I be any man’s master. (September 23, 2008)
When I was running for governor in 2006, I heard many of the same things; about how I and the party that I belong to wanted to create a theocracy. In response, I had the following disclaimer published on my website, http://www.RunRandyRun.com:
“For those of you, who may not share my faith, do not be alarmed. I am not now, nor will I ever push for a “Theocracy” in the Constitution Party of Illinois, the State of Illinois or the United States of America.
However, DO NOT forget, that almost without exception, every one of our Founding Fathers were “deeply religious” men. It was these “deeply religious” men who brilliantly framed the Constitution of the United States. They created a constitution which also included a “Bill of Rights.” The first of which states that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” This includes your right NOT to be religious, if that’s your choice. So, whether you are religious or not, don’t be afraid to support another “deeply religious” man (just as our founding fathers were) who will stand up for all of our freedoms (just as our founding fathers did).
It is because of my conviction that God has created us all as equal and free, that I stand against the tyranny that threatens our freedoms, both within the state of Illinois and these United State of America.”
For the twenty-two and a half years I served my country as an active duty Marine, I pledged my life in “supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States of American.” Do not ignorantly suppose that once I left active duty, that I lost my mind and joined a political party that would violate these very principles that I pledged my sacred honor to and I was willing to lay down my life in the defense of the freedoms and liberty that our constitution provides. It was in the very recognition that the two major parties have betrayed our constitution and drove me to seek refuge in a party that would fight against the tyrannies of our state and federal governments.
Further, do not ignorantly suppose that Chuck Baldwin’s faith and Christianity is something to be feared. In fact, it is his “religion” that drives him in his pursuit to protect and defend the Constitution of these United States of America with the same fervor that drove me to serve our nation for all those years on active duty and now in my fight against the domestic enemies of the Constitution.
I challenge any of you to take a look at any of Chuck Baldwin’s writings or his speeches for that matter and demonstrate to me where he has any intention of establishing a theocracy. Do not mistake his challenging of Christians and especially evangelical pastors as a call to set up a theocracy. This would be the same thing as saying that in my challenging of the veterans, I am trying to set up a military government. It’s a ludicrous idea and has no basis in reality.
Quite frankly, of ALL the people, in recent history who have had strong ties to Evangelical Christianity, to include folks like Pat Buchannan, Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, etc., Chuck Baldwin outshines them all in his constitutional understanding and principles.
If we want to preserve this nation as a constitutional republic as our founding fathers gave us, then we need to get beyond these red herring issues and focus on the issues that matter in the preservation of the freedoms and liberty that was bought and paid for in blood (and continues to be paid with the lives of our sons and daughters in the military).
Remember… If you need your lights turned on hire an electrician. If you need your water running again, hire a plumber. If you want to protect your constitutional rights, HIRE (ELECT) A CONSTITUTIONALIST!
Elect Chuck Baldwin as the next President of these United States of America ! !
Yours in Liberty,
Randall C. Stufflebeam
Chairman, Constitution Party of Illinois
www.ConstitutionPartyIL.com
Chairman-CPIL@cp-il.com
September 26th, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
