PURITAN NEWS WEEKLY

www.puritans.net/news/

09/17/04

 

 

AN EXAMINATION OF THE US CONSTITUTION AND CHRISTIAN LIBERTY ACADEMY

 

By Parnell McCarter

 

 

The foundation of all sound government, including civil government, is a true and proper fear of the Lord.  This is why we read in Psalm 2:10-11: “Now therefore be wise, O ye kings, Be instructed, ye judges of the earth.  Serve the Lord with fear…”  And a true fear of God requires a recognition of the doctrines of His Word, which reveal how He is to be served.

 

The US Constitution failed this most basic of tests of sound government.  It failed to establish the Biblical Protestant faith.  And it allowed those to rule who were enemies of Biblical Protestantism, and hence God Himself.  Let’s consider the specifics:

 

1. The US Constitution took away religious test oaths, which in the colonial era had allowed only Protestants to vote and hold office .  This is a most pernicious provision- essentially overturning the rule of the godly, and allowing infidels and heretics to rule an erstwhile Protestant area.

 

The Constitutional Provision: "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States"

 

 

2.  The US Constitution was signed by a Romanist (which would have never been allowed in colonial era- Romanists were not allowed the vote).  For instance:

 

Maryland - DanL Carroll

 

(The Carroll family started the first Jesuit college in America and effectively chose the capital in the District of **Columbia** on property they owned in **Mary**land, right next to the Jesuit college [Georgetown] they already started.  George Washington was an ally of this wicked family in their mischievous enterprises.)

 

 

3.  The US Constitution denied the Establishment Principle and effectively denied the First Commandment (which does not grant "freedom of religion and worship", but requires all men to worship God in truth)

 

The Constitutional Provision: "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"

 

This provision gave free rein to those who blaspheme the God of the Bible, promoting their pernicious and slanderous lies.  It is in diametrical opposition to the doctrines of the Westminster Standards, which teach that it is the duty of civil magistrates to suppress heresy, idolatry, and other violations of both tables of the Ten Commandments.

 

The formation of the US Constitutional government marked an horrific spiritual declension for the English-speaking colonies of America.  Colonial America had been one of the most Protestant areas in the entire world.  Biblical Protestantism was established in the colonies, and in the United Kingdom of which they were a part.  There were even Protestant religious tests for voting and holding civil office.  Heretics and infidels were properly excluded from rule.  But the American Revolution and the formation of the United States of America changed all of that.

 

Such a religiously compromised government was an inevitable consequence of a revolution (i.e., the American Revolution) led by many infidels and heretics, like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.  And a significant amount of the revolution’s financing came from Romanist France.  Even the Presbyterians involved compromised sound religion, as demonstrated in the fact that during this time American Presbyterians amended their Confessional Standards, removing the sections which taught the Establishment Principle.  So we should not be surprised that Protestantism was dis-established as a result of this alliance and compromise.

 

Virtually all the curricula and all the schools in America today, including the “Christian” curricula and schools, defend and promote the American Revolution and the US Constitution.  They fail to recognize and acknowledge the great wickedness involved.  Let’s take, for example, the case of Christian Liberty Academy.  They write on their website: "To further the spirit of Christian patriotism and the upholding of our God-given freedoms contained in, among other places, the Constitution of the United States of America." (see http://www.christianliberty.com/satementOfFaith.html )  There is simply a failure to recognize that many of the so called “rights” in the US Constitution, like “freedom of speech” and non-establishment of religion, are contrary to the Ten Commandments.  God never gave men freedom to worship as he pleased or to say whatever lie he wanted to about God. 

 

One reason that Westminster Covenant Academy , with its Puritans’ Home School Curriculum , was established, is to provide a reformed alternative.  It is the duty of all parents to use reasonable means to provide their children an education consistent with the doctrines of the Westminster Standards, which accurately summarize the doctrines of scripture.  The Ninth Commandment, which calls for the promotion of truth, demands it.  It is the goal of Westminster Covenant Academy , with its Puritans’ Home School Curriculum , to teach consistent with the Biblical doctrines summarized in the Westminster Standards, even if it means taking unpopular positions in America.