Happy No Kings Day!

Today is July 4th, the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I had Notebook LM create a podcast discussion of the Declaration. Pretty fun. You can listen to it here.

I had hoped to have a quick writing project done by today, but alas. It is a carefully presented comparison of the history of the United States with this moment. Having missed the deadline, my goal now is the week after next.

But here are excerpts from chapter 19: "No More Kings." The book is 20 chapters and proceeds backward from the present day to America's founding. So this is one of the last chapters. It also has as an appendix the fully compiled sweep of US history that I did on this blog last week.

Here then in celebration of Independence Day are these excerpts from chapter 19.

No More Kings
The Founders didn’t dump tea in a harbor to trade one king for another.

1. When the Founders put ink to parchment in 1776, their clearest grievance was this: too much power in one person’s hands is dangerous. The Declaration of Independence isn’t just a poetic breakup letter to King George III. It’s a catalog of abuses by a monarch who saw no limits on his authority. He made decisions without consent. He dissolved legislative bodies when they disagreed. He stalled laws, delayed justice, and treated opposition as treason.

The American colonists didn’t start out demanding independence. They began by asking for respect. They wanted representation, fairness, and a say in how they were governed. But King George wouldn’t hear it. He ignored petitions, punished dissent, and doubled down with force. In the words of the Declaration, “He has refused his Assent to Laws... He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly..."

It was a pattern: power concentrated, voices silenced, systems sidelined. That’s what “tyranny” looks like. It often expresses itself in cruelty. But it is enabled by the absence of limits... The Founders insisted that power be shared between the President, Congress, and the courts... 

The Founders weren’t perfect. Many of them were deeply flawed. But they understood one thing with clarity: Power must be checked, or it will check us...

2. In the Declaration of Independence, the colonists listed King George III’s obstruction of justice among their most damning accusations. He had, they wrote, “obstructed the Administration of Justice,” and “made Judges dependent on his Will alone.” These were not technicalities. They were seen as fatal to any free society.

The Founders understood: If you cannot count on impartial justice, you are not free. If legal outcomes are determined by political allegiance rather than law, then you are not a citizen. You are a subject...

A government of laws, not of men, requires more than slogans. It requires limits. It requires courts that can operate without fear. It requires leaders who serve the law, not the other way around.

The colonists knew what it meant to live under a king who saw courts as tools. That’s why they rebelled. That’s why they listed judicial interference right alongside taxation without representation. Because they understood that once the legal system serves only one man, the republic is already gone. Justice must be impartial. It must be independent. It must have the power to say no – even to the president. In fact, especially to the president...

3. One of the most striking grievances in the Declaration of Independence was that King George III punished those who challenged his authority. He dissolved local legislatures. He revoked colonial charters. He quartered troops among civilians not as a defense strategy, but as a warning. Rule wasn’t based on consent. It was enforced through fear. Obedience was demanded. Dissent was punished...

One of the clearest complaints in the Declaration of Independence was the colonists’ outrage over being governed without their consent. They were taxed without representation, subjected to laws they had no voice in shaping, and forced to live under decrees imposed from afar. For them, legitimate government was not about power. It was about permission. As Thomas Jefferson famously put it, governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed”...

The Declaration of Independence was not just a break from Britain. It was a break from monarchy. It was a break from the idea that one man should have unchecked power over millions. The Founders weren’t perfect, but they understood one crucial truth: freedom demands limits on power. That’s why they created a government of checks and balances, with coequal branches designed to restrain tyranny in all its forms.

That’s why we don’t have a king.

Independence Day 2018

Happy Independence Day!

It is a strange feature of America right now that one segment of the population--almost entirely white, heavily evangelical, older, and middle/south country--thinks that America is finally back on the right path to becoming great again. Probably a majority of the country--those of other ethnicities, younger, coastal and big cities--think our democracy is in serious danger. If it weren't so important, it would be fascinating. I hope I will be able to look back on these days in fascination.

What are the points of disagreement?

Race and Immigration
1. Given many comments made on the campaign trail, the majority of non-whites in America do not feel like the current President has a particularly positive view toward them. Accordingly, racist views that people knew to keep to themselves before (or at selective water coolers) are now said openly. Ironically, refugees fleeing the violent to our borders are painted by the president as being the very people from whom they are fleeing.

Since most whites--especially older whites--are mostly blind to the experiences of non-whites anyway, the promotion of norms that favor a white majority is not experienced as injustice but as "making America great again." In truth, America had actually been on a slow process toward becoming greater. Slavery lasted almost a hundred years into our existence, but was abolished at great cost. Jim Crow laws were a backlash in the south that lasted almost another hundred years, but the civil rights laws of the 60s did make America a greater nation by getting rid of them. America had been moving toward a more level playing field.

Evangelicalism does not have an untainted history here. The Southern Baptist Church was explicitly founded to stand for slavery against the northern baptists. The modern states' rights movement that Jerry Falwell fused with abortion in the early 80s has deeper roots in opposition to the civil rights movement--that is, its roots are in southern racism. The linkage with abortion has only made it seem righteous.

2. The current administration represents a nativism that we have seen before in our history against Irish, Italians, Polish, Catholics, Chinese, etc (remember Polack jokes?). The statements are there from the president, for example, portraying all illegals as rapists or gang members. These things are as plain as day to millennials but somehow play into the fears and/or prejudices of older whites. They do not fit the spirit of the Old Testament toward the stranger in the land or the Parable of the Good Samaritan or the inclusivity of Acts and Paul. There is no biblical ground to stand on here, although the ingenious twist the Scriptures to fit their inklings.

Apt is the phrase, "make America hate again." Ask a person of color. It's not for a white person to say, "No, you're wrong about what you're experiencing." And the church will pay a price for it, regardless of its motives. "I didn't realize" won't cut it then. There will be consequences and already are. It will prove an obstacle to evangelism. Smiling white Trumpists trying to spread the gospel and shocked at the doors slammed in their faces and the steadily declining overall attendance in their churches. "What did I do? I only wanted to share the good news with them?"

As a millennial who isn't attending church told me recently, "I bet only conservatives go to church now."

The Rule of Law
3. The president is under investigation. It is the consensus of those across our government and in the governments of our allies that Putin tampered with our election. This is not surprising as we no doubt have tried to tamper in their business as well. What is at first surprising is that it has been very difficult to get our president to admit it.

Indeed, while our president says bad things about pretty much everyone--probably more about our historic allies than our historic enemies--he has never a negative thing to say about Putin. The Republican platform was altered in this regard. You get the gnawing feeling that he owes something to this guy. And somehow the segment of the American population that was most anti-Russia in the past is not alarmed at our sudden coziness with Putin.

This is not a little bit frightening. Former military generals sound the alarm. Former intelligence leaders sound the alarm. But for some reason these people are dismissed. Indeed, the fever of support for the current president among evangelicals reminds me of end times teaching I grew up with where "even the very elect" are deceived by the antichrist.

The Justice Department, full of Republicans appointed by the president, find themselves the object of his smear campaigns and of previously unknown inquisitors in the House, finding their moment in the sun by becoming attack dogs for the president. It's like the Justice Department is expected to serve like the lawyer of a mob boss, not as an independent balance of power.

4. Republican leaders in Congress say little until they decide to retire and aren't running for re-election. Then they speak more freely in critique. Again, this dynamic is striking. We get the impression that the problematic nature of the situation is known but unspoken. Meanwhile, when a John McCain speaks up, he is smeared. And somehow his own people buy it.

Why don't more Republicans in Congress speak? At first they didn't speak because they were getting things they thought they'd never get, like tax cuts that accelerate the gap between the incredibly rich and the incredibly not. Rules on businesses meant to keep us from another Great Recession or worse are pealed back. The EPA is dismantled and business is booming without the cost of protections to keep things like Flint, Michigan from happening.

But now they don't speak because the shrinking Republican party has become incredibly unified behind the president. This man whose deadly sins were once seen for what they are--lust, greed, pride--has been sanctified as a baby Christian who sins just like we all sin. Meanwhile, formerly staunch Republicans are becoming independents or Democrats, people like Joe Scarborough and Steve Schmidt. Nicole Wallace is just one example of a commentator who was in the Bush administration and is soundly Republican but is so clearly alarmed by the current administration.

Schmidt, a staunch supporter of Republican values, in what no one could have anticipated two years ago, declared that the Republican party was now the party of Trump and had become "corrupt, indecent, and immoral." The zero tolerance policy at the border was the last straw for him. Laura Bush also mourned what was happening at the border. These are not Democrats. These are life-long Republicans. Reason suggests that there is a reality here that can't be dismissed by a conspiracy theory or by blaming Democrats, who have no power whatsoever at this moment in time.

The rule of law is only as strong as the people. And it is only as strong as the people in power are willing to enforce it. With the current Republicans in office, paralyzed by constituencies under the spell of a charismatic leader, the rule of law is teeter-tottering. de Tocqueville foresaw these dangers. The tyranny of the majority is when the majority uses its power to run over the interests of minorities--or to ignore the Constitution.

5. I love the Constitution. I love the Statue of Liberty. I love the ideal of the Republic, a representational democracy with a Bill of Rights. But we are sick right now, and half the country is in denial, including vast portions of the church. We are in a moment of decline because we have lost our sense of the Constitution, the Statue of Liberty, and the Bill of Rights.

Is it to reverse Roe v Wade? Mike Pence would serve as well to do that, so it is no excuse. Indeed, by any standard Mike Pence is the more likely Christian of our two current leaders.

God has used these last two years to try to free me of the idol of America. He hasn't completely succeeded, for I haven't lost all hope yet. But he is telling me we are just another nation in thousands of years of the salvation story. Why should I think he loves us more than the believers in China? He is telling me we aren't always going to be a shining beacon to the world. God can bring justice to the world through Canadians and Germans just as well as through Americans. What right do I have to live in a place where these ideals of equality and freedom prevail? Most Christians in history haven't lived under such circumstances. I've been spoiled by growing up in the era I did.

I have not lost hope for our future, although I have had moments of despair these last two years. I pray the Lord will indeed make America great again. But if he doesn't, Jesus is Lord, not Caesar.

America--What I love!

I wrote a "Top Ten Things I Love about America" for today:

1. Freedom of religion
I love the fact that I not only can worship God freely here, not only can worship the Christian God here, but I can be a Wesleyan or a Baptist, or a Catholic or a Quaker or a Lutheran or a Methodist. And so that I can have this freedom, so can Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. In fact, so can Muslims and Hindus and atheists and Hari Krishna's.

Apart from those who cause others harm, we are a nation of free will when it comes to religion. I am free to worship and live as I believe because you are free to worship and live as you believe. And even if some people from my faith prove to be evil, I will not be judged because of what others do.

2. All are created equal.
Despite our failures to implement this principle, we are doing much better than in the past. Whether you are man or woman, black or white, rich or poor, we aim to judge others by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin or their physical anatomy or the money they have in the bank. Equal justice for all, equal opportunity for all. When the system proves to fail us, we will modify the system.

3. A nation of law
The rule of law is central to civilization. People cannot be tried in the court of public opinion but through due process of law. When presidents violate the law, they must be held accountable. We may not always agree with the Supreme Court but we abide by its decisions until such time as they can be changed. The majority can be wrong, which is why the Constitution is in place.

4. A nation of justice
We have often failed, but the ideal remains of justice being blind. And although we often complain, we do not live in the corrupt world of Nazi Germany or communist USSR or the many dictatorships of history. Justice is sometimes subverted, but far less than in so many other places and times.

5. A nation of strength
There is a certain comfort in knowing that we have military strength. Of course strength is more than rockets. True strength also means the courage to resist striking when the consequences would be worse than holding back. When irrational fools are crying "bomb them," strength is having a cool head to see what the truly best course of action might be.

6. A nation of enterprise
Capitalism has its dangers, chiefly for those at the top to abuse those at the bottom. But the lessons of history are part of our laws. Free enterprise has generated amazing wealth and prosperity for many Americans, and the lessons of history have brought many safeguards to keep the monster more helpful than harmful. But we are a nation where you can still dream dreams.

7. A nation of basic rights
I have the right to remain silent. I have the right to a trial where I can face my accuser and to be judged by a jury of my peers. I cannot be detained indefinitely without any evidence. The police need probable cause to search my house. I have the right to defend myself against evildoers.

8. freedom of speech
I can blog in America. I can speak against the government. I can accuse presidents and presidential candidates of being liars and protest outside their events. I can start a newspaper and publish articles that accuse my city or state of corruption. I can even blow the whistle on an employer.

9. I elect my representatives.
If I do not think my senators or representatives are doing a good job representing me, I can mount a campaign against them. I can run for office myself. If I can get the majority on my side, I can change the trajectory of things. I am not against my government because I am my government. The government consists of people I elect. They are me, and I am them.

10. Give me your huddled masses.
We are a country with open doors where all who agree to adopt our way of life are welcome. "Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses longing to breathe free." There will always be those who fear the outsider. There always have been, from those who complained about the Irish or the Polish or the Chinese or the Germans or the Mexicans or you name it. But if they are longing to be part of us and share our vision for a great country, they are welcome!

This is the America I love. May we never forget it!

Celebrate!

I consider myself truly blessed to have been born in the U.S.A.  I know those from many other countries rightly feel the same about their countries as well.  On the other hand, many, many from oppressed parts of the world would love to live here with us.

So what should I write today?  How happy I am that our system of government was formed at just the right time,  by men with Enlightenment philosophies still riding the fumes of Judeo-Christian values?  Or is this a moment to be prophetic, to remember that "we have here no lasting city" and that many churches confuse patriotism and nationalism with Christianity?

Nah, I'll just wish any of those from the US reading a happy 4th of July.  And for those reading from free lands somewhere else, three cheers for your heritage.  And if anyone is reading from somewhere else... history's a comin'.