Is America Really Free?

Chapter 20

 

"Thus he said: "The fourth beast shall be

A fourth kingdom on earth” (Daniel 7:18)

 

17and that no one may buy or sell except one who

has the mark the name of the beast…

(Revelation 13:17)

As we search for that great prophetic nation referred to as “Babylon” in the “end of days”, the Bible calls it both a “beast” and a “Kingdom”.  That kingdom grows to have so much power that no one may buy or sell without the mark of the beast and all worship the image of the beast.  It would be safe to say that America is a little less than “free and democratic society.”  But before we see the full-blown expression of that beast, we have a glimpse of changes on the horizon.

It is ironic that no other country in the world has stood so proudly for freedom and justice.  The Constitution of the United States recognized the potential evil of the state and the need to protect the individual from it.  It laid out the limitations of government, the protections for a man accused of a crime, and just in case this wasn’t clear, the first ten amendments known as “The Bill of Rights” spelled it out clearly.  Each amendment was designed to protect the citizen from the abusive power of the state or the states from the federal government.  It might be good to review that document:

The Bill of Rights

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII
 Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X
 The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are brilliant documents from beginning to end.  The writers realized the sinful nature of man and set up a system of checks and balances and limitations on the power of the government.  This is why the United States has been so highly respected in the world and, if imitation is the purest form of flattery, we should be proud of the fact that so many countries have patterned their constitutions after ours. 

America was a grand experiment and grew to become the most powerful, and admired nation in the world.  But the seeds of the downfall of this endeavor began to grow and choke out the precious freedom as the tentacles of government grew and the self-serving bureaucracy became so top heavy that one quarter of the entire economy was the Federal Government alone.  There has been a steady erosion in the rights guaranteed under the Constitution over the years.  Since 9/11, the power of the government has begun to expand beyond our wildest imaginations.

Times Are “A’Changin…”

There are still a few prophets among us.  Congressman Ron Paul, MD, seven months before 9/11/01 on February 2001, said:

 “Escalation of the war on terrorism and not understanding its causes is a dangerous temptation. Not only does foreign interventionism undermine chances for peace and prosperity, it undermines personal liberty.  War and preparing for war must always be undertaken at someone's expense. Someone must pay the bills with higher taxes, and someone has to be available to pay with their lives. 

It is never the political and industrial leaders who promote the policy who pay. They are the ones who reap the benefits, while at the same time arguing for the policy they claim is designed to protect freedom and prosperity for the very ones being victimized.”

 

After 9/11, the Patriot Act was signed 45 days later and the Bill of Rights was gutted.  Legislation that Congress that had been trying to pass for years, went through so quickly no one even had a chance to read it!  Again, Ron Paul declared on December 1, “the terrorist enemy is no more an entity than the "mob" or some international criminal gang.  It is certainly not a country… The pervasive and indefinable enemy- terrorism - cannot be conquered with weapons and UN nation building - only a more sensible pro-American foreign policy will accomplish this. This must occur if we are to avoid a cataclysmic expansion of the current hostilities.”

“Terrorism” gave the administration the excuse they had been waiting for.  Legislation that could never be passed before, was now passing with record speed.  We are going to look at some of these changes, not the least of which is the new national ID.  We quickly forget history and the fact that Americans, Congressmen and Senators have fought against these trends for over two hundred years.  But since 9/11 and the specter of terrorism, Americans and their leaders have shown a willingness to give up freedoms in favor of security.

Our founding fathers gave us forewarning:

“The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.”   
 James Madison

”Fear is the foundation of most governments.” 
John Adams

“Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.”

George Washington

“The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty”

John Adams

“The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse”. 
James Madison

“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety”.   
- Benjamin Franklin

So lest the “thought police” arrest me for being too radical, Thomas Jefferson said, “When once a republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”  Jefferson and Madison were not even true believers but universalists.  Even they recognized the problem… and that dear reader is that all government is corrupt, whether it appears to be “good” or not.  But you know that, so why am I bringing this all up?  Simply because so many Christians today have the erroneous belief that America is God’s gift to the world.  They are so numb in their minds that they don’t recognize what is happening around them.  So we continue….

 The National ID

The latest bright idea of our lawmakers is to require everyone to have a national ID in the form of a driver’s license that is linked to the national data center.  A recent vote in Congress endorsed standardized, electronically readable driver's licenses.  This may include biometric indicators and RFID chips (radio frequency ID)  Congressman Ron Paul warned,

“It contains no limits on the government’s power to impose additional standards. Indeed, it gives authority to the Secretary of Homeland Security to unilaterally add requirements as he sees fit…  Supporters claim it is not a national ID because it is voluntary… However, any state that opts out will automatically make non-persons out of its citizens. They will not be able to fly or to take a train... This bill establishes a massive, centrally-coordinated database of highly personal information about American citizens: at a minimum their name, date of birth, place of residence, Social Security number, and physical and possibly other characteristics… This bill could have a chilling effect on the exercise of our constitutionally guaranteed rights… This legislation gives authority to the Secretary of Homeland Security to expand required information on driver’s licenses, potentially including such biometric information as retina scans, finger prints, DNA information, and even Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) radio tracking technology… When this new program is implemented, every time we are required to show our driver’s license we will, in fact, be showing a national identification card. We will be handing over a card that includes our personal and likely biometric information, information which is connected to a national and international database."

These are not the words of some leftist “nut case” off the street, but of a US Representative who is also a Medical Doctor.  Some may say, yes, but that doesn’t mean it will be used with evil intent.  So why do it?  Unfortunately, history would tell us that a technology such as this will be used.  Rep. Paul continues, "In reality, this bill is a Trojan horse.  It pretends to offer desperately needed border control in order to stampede Americans into sacrificing what is uniquely American: our constitutionally protected liberty."

RFID technology is triggered by a transmitter in the area that can read the information.  This could follow you through a store, to a check out stand and out the door.  The State of California is considering a mileage tax on automobiles.  There would be no honor system.  Chips would be added to automobiles and satellites would record use.  People might as well trade their Prius in for a gas guzzler SUV. 

Unfortunately, all of these measures – from smart passports, to national ID’s, to onerous bank reporting requirements – do little to hinder the determined terrorist.  If they want to get into the country, they can.  The invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan stirred up a hornet’s nest of terrorists by confirming their worst fears about American intentions, leaving the world less safe than it had been.

In an Orwellian touch, the REAL ID Act contains a provision that authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to "waive any and all laws in the course of securing the borders from illegal immigration." The bill also contains "exemption from judicial review that not only shields the waiver decisions from court scrutiny but also strips courts of any power to order remedies for anyone harmed by the consequences of such decisions."   Unfortunately, cards can be stolen and duplicated, but if it is implanted?  How wonderfully safe!

 

The Patriot Act

The Patriot Act was rushed through Congress in 45 days.  None of the legislators, other than those working on the bill, had an opportunity to even read it before passing it.  The bill was introduced on October 24, 2001, less than six weeks after 9/11 and passed days later without debate.  According to Brigid O’Neil,

“The PATRIOT Act’s baleful abrogation of our right to due process under the law cannot be overstated. As defined in legal jargon, our constitutional right to due process endows every person with appropriate safeguards to protect against arbitrary or unreasonable treatment under the law. It is noteworthy to all, including the Department of Justice, that the framer’s used the term ‘person’ instead of ‘citizen’ in reference to due process. This makes the worst provisions of the PATRIOT Act all the more deplorable for their targeted discrimination of non-citizens. In essence, these provisions institute ideological censorship, authorize deportation for lawful group activities, and allow the Attorney General to detain foreigners with a piece of paper.

Intelligence agents are similarly granted increased powers to detain citizens for investigative purposes and conduct surveillance—even when there is no basis for suspecting criminal activity. One particularly Orwellian provision involves the notorious “sneak and peek” warrant. Not to be confused with the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable search and seizures, this new and improved PATRIOT warrant permits agents to search homes and confiscate property under a low evidentiary standard, without first notifying the owner. The warrant also betrays long-held “knock and announce” requirements—allowing subjects of a search to challenge errors in the warrant, such as a wrong address or mistaken name. This particularly odious due process violation finally found it’s way back on the House floor, where it was overwhelmingly repealed in a show of bipartisan support.”

You may recall that the Patriot Act had a “sunset provision” but Bush is pushing to renew the act.  President George W. Bush urged the United States to continue its "urgent mission" to fight terrorism, and he called on Congress to move quickly to extend sweeping law enforcement powers under the USA Patriot Act.  "We must not allow the passage of time or the illusion of safety to weaken our resolve in this new war," Bush said in a speech at the Justice Department on Monday. "To protect the American people, Congress must promptly renew all provisions of the Patriot Act."  This is not only fear mongering, it is a gigantic effort to consolidate Federal police powers.  Patriot Act II was another effort to strengthen provisions even more.  It ran into opposition in Congress so it was slipped into various bills.

 

It is not that this onerous legislation has gone unnoticed.  Brigid O’Neil continues,

 

“Such outrageous violations of due process and equal protection have not gone unnoticed in America’s town halls. More than 160 local governments and three states have passed resolutions opposing the PATRIOT Act, and numerous civil liberty groups have filed lawsuits against the Act’s constitutional violations. At the same time the Inspector General of the Justice Department has submitted two scathing critiques of the Department’s treatment of immigrants swept up under the Act’s broad provisions. The report details dozens of blatant civil rights abuses, many alleging inhumane treatment of prisoners at the hands of Department employees.”

 

Another part of the Patriot Act expanded the so called “know your customer” rules for banking where employees are required to make Suspicious Activity Reports (SARS) or go to jail.  They have been trying to profile all air passengers but have had trouble working out details.  There is some suspicion that the government is reconstructing Carnivore, the FBI's controversial surveillance program that monitors e-mail and chat rooms, by newer, more effective technology, leaving some privacy experts to question if congressional oversight has kept pace with software advances.  They are experimenting with eye scans, biometric passports and much more.  The Patriot Act allows for secret searches, wire taps without court order and allows citizens to be classified as enemy combatants and held without due process.  They can spy on your computer or look at your library records.  Whole sections have been found unconstitutional but the administration presses on to implement one way or another.  It is our new Attorney General Gonzalez that tried to establish a new standard for prisoners that ignored the Geneva Convention Abu Ghraib.  Treatment of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have attracted the attention of human rights activists as hearings have been held on torture and abuse.

Here is a summary of post 9/11 legislation:

On June 27, 2002, Congressman Paul said on the floor of the house:

“The principal tool for sustaining a police state, even the most militant, is always economic control and punishment by denying disobedient citizens such things as jobs or places to live, and by levying fines and imprisonment. The military is more often used in the transition phase to a totalitarian state. Maintenance for long periods is usually accomplished through economic controls on commercial transactions, the use of all property, and political dissent. Peaceful control through these efforts can be achieved without storm troopers on our street corners.

Terror and fear are used to achieve complacency and obedience, especially when citizens are deluded into believing they are still a free people. The changes, they are assured, will be minimal, short-lived, and necessary, such as those that occur in times of a declared war. Under these conditions, most citizens believe that once the war is won, the restrictions on their liberties will be reversed. For the most part, however, after a declared war is over, the return to normalcy is never complete. In an undeclared war, without a precise enemy and therefore no precise ending, returning to normalcy can prove illusory.

Most police states, surprisingly, come about through the democratic process with majority support. During a crisis, the rights of individuals and the minority are more easily trampled, which is more likely to condition a nation to become a police state than a military coup. Promised benefits initially seem to exceed the cost in dollars or lost freedom. When people face terrorism or great fear — from whatever source — the tendency to demand economic and physical security over liberty and self-reliance proves irresistible. The masses are easily led to believe that security and liberty are mutually exclusive, and demand for security far exceeds that for liberty”…

I don’t think it is a coincidence that John Negroponte was appointed today as the new Intelligence Czar.  He has been called “the death squad ambassador” for his role in the 1980s death squads in Central America.  Much has been written on his role.  Let’s just say he is hardly a poster boy for “human rights” but fits in well with the rest of Bush’s team – Attorney General Gonzalez, Portor Goss – the new CIA Director, Rumsfeld, Cheney, et al.

Analysis

For those who think this is far fetched, just wait until the next “9/11” event occurs on US soil.  When it does, all bets are off.  The government has all the pieces in place.  All they have to do is implement them.  Then they will control your every movement and transaction.  Probably one of the most chilling things are internal check points.  The original article was based on a CNN program.  It included photos of a training check point at a military base where national guardsmen were being trained. 

“There was a barrier that went across the road. To the right was a raised, shed-like structure, elevated perhaps fifteen feet in the air. It had a small second story that was open. On it was a sign that said: “Homeland Security Internal Checkpoint.” There were sandbags, and the wooden arm that crossed the road read, “100% ID Checked.” Then a little structure to the right, which had a small barbed wire area behind, displayed the sign, “All citizens not having proper identification will be detained. All foreign nationals will be detained. All citizens who are deemed to be acting in a suspicious manner will be detained.” At each of these posts, there will be six armed Army or National Guard reservists with M-16 and full field kit. On top of the structure to the rear, above the open one, there’s a man with a machine gun emplacement.

Surprisingly enough, all these border checks you might think would be handled directly by the military are not. They’re under the auspices of “Homeland Security.” What it means is that you have 100,000 troops (reservists and national guard people) based in the United States, to be seconded to the Office of Homeland Security. Their ultimate jurisdiction will be moved from the Department of Defense to the Office of Homeland Security.”

The apparatus is ready.  The laws are in place.  The willingness to implement it is there.  All that is needed is a good reason.  One more event and the clampdown comes and the citizenry will welcome it with open.

As in Rome of old, the Senate slipped away into irrelevancy because only the emperor represented all the people.  There are those today who speak of an “Imperial Presidency.”

“Advocates of an imperial presidency ask who comprehends the general will of the American  people. Their answer: the one official elected by all the people -- the president of the United States. Unlike Congress, they believe, he represents the national interest, not just the parochial interests of states and vested interests. The voters have chosen the president, and Congress should carry out his Sun God-like "mandate." If Congress refuses to execute the general will, then presidents increasingly claim the power to rule by decree, through executive orders.”

As Rep. Ron Paul said, “America is not now a ruthless authoritarian police state. But our concerns ought to be whether we have laid the foundation of a more docile police state.”  The foundation is laid and the people are in place.  All that is missing is one more event to trigger it.

What does this mean to Christians?  It could well mean that it is later than we think.  The US withdrew its ambassador from Syria.  The billionaire ex-President of Lebanon was assassinated this week.  Iran makes a defense pact with Syria, and sabers rattle.  I can’t say what this means for you – that is between you and the Lord.  First, spiritual preparation is the most important thing you can do.  Second, untangle yourself from the world, from debt and from the evil clutches of our culture.  Third, we are called as “watchmen on the wall.”  It is interesting that the great chapter on the “watchman” is found in Isaiah 21, but look at the context:

"Go, set a watchman,

Let him declare what he sees."  (vs. 6)

  Then he answered and said,
       "Babylon is fallen, is fallen!
       And all the carved images of her gods
       He has broken to the ground." (Vs 9)

 

Is it a coincidence – the warning that Babylon is fallen?  Again, in Ezekiel 33:2-6, the Lord says,

 

"When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, 3when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. 5He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself.  But he who takes warning will save his life. 6But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.'

 

 

 

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