Clinging to our guns and religion
By Alisa Craddock
web posted March 2, 2009
Remember that infamous speech by candidate Obama when he thought he was out of earshot of us regular Americans:
You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explaintheir frustrations.
The part that most of us remembered about that is the "guns and religion" part. It's the Guns and Religion" speech. What was he really thinking?
I went to a 5:30 Mass last Wednesday, which is for Catholics the beginning of the Penitential season of Lent called Ash Wednesday. One could not help but notice that the church was packed. And apparently it wasn't just in my neck of the woods. William Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights noted that thousands also showed up for Ash Wednesday services at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish in Manhattan, and also at St. Patricks Cathedral. Could it be that Catholics who have strayed from the narrow gate are beginning to recognize the consequences? I suspect that a great many denominational Christians are also waking up to the threat in our midst.
Besides the Churches swelling with the penitent faithful, there is, not surprisingly, a huge increase in gun sales. The threat of new regulations that would require registration, fingerprints, and psychological profiles and everyone buying a gun may have something to do with that. But more likely, as Trace Adkins pointed out on the Glenn Beck show last Friday, (and I'm paraphrasing) maybe people are sensing that something dangerous is going on in this country. It seems to me that freedom-loving Americans are feeling the tingle on the back of their necks and the hair standing on end that signals a "fight or flight" situation and …well…this is America. We don't do "flight". The citizen soldier is in every red-blooded American's soul. The warnings of the Founding Fathers against tyranny that echo in the ears of our countrymen call them out of their slumber like a sleeping tiger, whether the threat is without, or within. But where is the danger coming from?
There are things going on that are deeply disturbing to those of us who love freedom and our Constitutional Republic, and especially to those of us who believe in Christ. President Obama is working at lightning speed to entrench his atheist/socialist agenda and shore up power and control before the next election cycle. He's been in office only five weeks, and look what's on the slate already.
- Though he has said he does not support the Fairness Doctrine, he has not said anything about FCC licensing requirements that would effectively shut down stations that did not serve what democrats viewed as the "public interest" (even if forcing the stations to accept liberal programs would put the station out of business—which, from the democrats standpoint, would be even better). There is a report that says Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif) also wants to enforce "fairness" on the internet as well. (It needs to be stressed that, though the President himself appears aloof from all this skulduggery, it is doubtful he will veto anything Nancy Pelosi hands him, so their efforts become his, though in my opinion, he is the congenial "front man", appeasing the crowd with his warm assurances, while his party secures power as fast as it can before the people wake up and put a stop to it. With voices like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck sounding the alarm, he will want to get full control of the press as quickly as possible. But that would sound the death knell for our country. "No nation ancient or modern ever lost the liberty of freely speaking, writing, or publishing their sentiments, but forthwith lost their liberty in general and became slaves."—John Peter Zenger, New York Weekly Journal, Nov. 12. 1733.
- Obama has plans for the White House to be much more involved with the census, which has deep political implications because it is used to redraw congressional districts. This would open the door for gerrymandering at the federal level to ensure political dominance of the Democrat party.
- The president has spoken of forming a Civilian National Security Force, in which "People of all ages, stations, and skills will be asked to serve." He plans to form Classroom Corps, Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, Veterans Corps, Global Energy Corps, andGreen Jobs Corps. But most telling was this remark: "We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."
- Though Pres. Obama has said that gun owners have nothing to fear from him, his attorney general is opposed to gun ownership, and there is a bill presently pending in Congress, H.R.45, which would tend to make gun ownership prohibitive for most people, and would require the applicant to agree to release to the Attorney General, or any authorized representative of the AG, any mental health records pertaining to the applicants. Given the President's opinion about people who cling to their guns and religion, I find that idea odious. And the bill calls for the creation of a federal registry of gun owners as well, which history has shown is a prelude to outlawing and confiscation of firearms prior to a political takeover and imposition of tyranny.
- Just last week, Sen. Robert Byrd, a Democrat, no less, but a Constitutional scholar, warned that Pres. Obama's appointments of various Czars to head Obama-created departments under the executive branch without congressional oversight represented a "power-grab" by the executive branch. In a letter to the President, Sen. Byrd stated such that the creation of such offices "can threaten the Constitutional system of checks and balances. At the worst, White House staff have taken direction and control of programmatic areas that are the statutory responsibility of Senate-confirmed officials." (my emphasis.)
While this and other Leftist shenanigans are going on, the President is fomenting anger and fear at home. With his outrageous spending and his exorbitant plans to compound federal involvement in our affairs, all the while promising a new era of prosperity, he is drawing all political power to himself and his party by spending trillions of dollars we don't have on new federal programs we can't afford. In addition, while the economy is the center of most people's attention, many of us await with dread the inevitable attack on our Constitutional (God-given) rights that the Left has become so adept at undercutting.
So while discord at home is increasing, resentments compound as government policies now punish those who were prudent and acted responsibly with their money, and reward those who were irresponsible. Nor can we ignore the corporate executives who were irresponsible with the money they controlled, and the idiots in Congress who encouraged and enabled it.
There is also the problem of increasing government hostility to Christianity, and I mean Christianity, especially Catholicism, and no other religion. Already Pres. Obama is "reviewing" the conscience clause, the Health and Human Services regulation that the previous Congress passed that reinforces the right of health care workers to refuse to provide abortion and contraception if it violates their conscience or moral precepts. Most disturbing, this will force out of medicine those who are morally opposed to medical murder, leaving only those who not are encumbered by the mandate to "do no harm" when it comes to life issues. Those remaining will fit in well with the administration's plan to implement a program of health care rationing as part of the socialist health care plan of the Obama administration, which will mean that when the government decides your health expenses do not provide an adequate return on investment, they will be cut off. And in a worst-case scenario (look at Holland), there will come a time when the government may end their suffering by eliminating those who suffer.
Now the administration pretends to spread the wealth around, but it is really digging us all in a pit with wildly confiscatory taxation and expensive new government mandates (or do you really think $13.00 per week is going to pay for the cost of all the additional hidden fees you'll be having to pay for various "green" projects and such) such that even should we retake Congress in 2010, we would find it difficult to extricate ourselves from them. But there are disturbing provisions in place, and others in the works should violence break out, such as certain Executive Orders that could be invoked that would give the President broad and sweeping powers in the event of a "national emergency". And THESE should give every American pause, as indeed increasing numbers of Americans are beginning to fear the jaws of tyranny closing around them. Thus, we see people beginning to turn back to God…and also buying guns! Noah Webster, in 1787, said it best: "Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe [sic]. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; [sic] because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States." --An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution.
Rep. Alcee Hastings (You remember Alcee's comment about Sarah Palin's moose-hunting, don't you?) has proposed a new bill, H.R.645, calling on the Department of Homeland Security to create at least six national emergency centers for housing civilians on military installations. As World Net Daily reported, the purpose of the National Emergency Centers is "to provide temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster." But there are additional provisions of the bill, which include: To meet other appropriate needs, as defined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.
What other needs could they be talking about? Hey, we're dealing with Leftists here. What do you think?
Alisa Craddock is a columnist and activist in the culture war, a convert to Catholicism, and describes herself as a Christian Libertarian. She may be contacted at alisa.craddock@hushmail.com