God and Guns, Part I(Document found at Townhall.com)by Chuck NorrisGod and guns are what our country was founded upon.
But more and more, these pillars of American life and liberty are being attacked and abandoned out of not only sheer bias but also ignorance of our Founding Fathers, the Revolutionary period and our Constitution. These pivotal American rights have become the brunt end of cultural jokes and often are regarded as biased lifestyle components of "rednecks" and rural citizens.
For example, gone but not forgotten is even President Barack Obama's partiality on the campaign trail in April 2008. You might recall when he addressed the economic hardships, at a private California fundraiser, of those in Pennsylvania, with this quip: "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 it's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion ... as a way to explain their frustrations."
Presently, with the Supreme Court back in session and new justice Sonia Sotomayor's narrow view of the Second Amendment, gun rights are back again on the docket. Two weeks ago, concerning a case out of Chicago, the justices agreed to rule on whether the Second Amendment gives Americans a constitutional right to keep and bear arms that is enforceable against local and state gun laws.
The indifference toward and lack of education and passion regarding all of our Bill of Rights gravely concerns me. And while there is nothing funny about it, it is one of many reasons roughly one-fifth of the 101 short stories are "Freedom" entries in my new book, "The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book," a fun yet inspirational and educational book in which I share my 101 favorite Chuck Norris "facts" -- embedded within five core values: freedom, family, faith, fitness and fight. (It will be released Nov. 1 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com for less than $9. Proceeds will go to help KickStartKids.org.)
In my column last week, I gave a sneak peek and example of a "Fight" entry, in which I discussed my struggle with a snake on "Walker, Texas Ranger." In this column, I'd like to share an entry from my "Freedom" code. Each of the 101 entries in the book is divided into four sections: one of my favorite official facts, a related short story ("Let's be honest"), a classic or contemporary corresponding quote ("They said it") and one of my principles for life ("Chuck's Code"), which are represented by the five "F's," or my core values. (Next week's example will be on "Faith," in "God and Guns, Part 2.")
Here's Entry No. 49, on the Second Amendment:
"Chuck Norris sleeps with a pillow under his gun."
Let's be honest ...
This past year I shot (no pun intended) an NRA public service announcement (now on YouTube) in which I shared my conviction about self- defense: "If some thug breaks into my home, I could use my roundhouse kick. But I prefer he look down the barrel of my gun."
The reason I was so adamant in that PSA is because there has been some movement in our country to get away from our Second Amendment rights. Last year, the Supreme Court even wrangled over the question, Should the government allow private citizens or only public servants ("state militias") "to keep and bear arms"?
Is someone joking? Could the twenty-seven words of the Second Amendment be any clearer? "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" (emphasis added).
Just because Washington, D.C., had a pistol problem (with their ban on handguns from 1976-2008, during which time the murder rate actually increased), the court (or government) shouldn't penalize the rest of the country by resetting national precedent based upon a biased Constitutional interpretation. The Bill of Rights either encompasses the privileges of every citizen in every amendment or none at all.
In the early days of our country, many states had gun laws that aligned with the Constitutional standard. As Chief Justice John Roberts asked, "If it is limited to state militias, why would they say 'the right of the people'? ... What is reasonable about a total ban on possession?"
Thomas Jefferson similarly wrote near the end of his life in 1823, "On every question of construction (of the Constitution), carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed."
They said it ...
"Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks." --Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to his nephew Peter Carr
Chuck's Code (Freedom):
The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
Lynyrd Skynyrd, a legendary Southern rock band, put it well in the title track of their new album, "God and Guns":
"God and guns
Keep us strong.
That's what this country
Was founded on.
Well, we might as well give up and run
If we let them take our God and guns."
http://townhall.com/columnists/ChuckNorris/2009/10/13/god_and_guns%2C_part_i?page=full God and Guns, Part 2(Document found at Townhall.com)by Chuck Norris, (Document found at Townhall.com)Despite atheists' attempts to keep our national motto ("In God We Trust") from being engraved on the walls of the new 580,000-square-foot Capitol Visitor Center, the inscription was indelibly etched recently in large, bold and deep letters. And the Pledge of Allegiance soon will follow.
It's about time that good news came out of Washington. But this shouldn't be shocking news or even a contested matter. For the very words of the national motto are inscribed on our currency. They even are etched above the speaker's rostrum in the House of Representatives.
Only in our modern age have skeptics and secular progressives fought God in America. Religious inscriptions on Washington's other buildings testify to yesteryear's commitment to our Judeo-Christian heritage.
For example, in front of the Reagan Building is a statue titled "Liberty of Worship," which is resting on the Ten Commandments.
On the aluminum capstone at the very top of the Washington Monument are the chiseled words "Laus Deo" (Latin for "Praise be to God").
A statue of Moses holding the Ten Commandments is in the rotunda of the Library of Congress.
In addition to the words "In God We Trust" within the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives, is it just a coincidence that Moses is the central figure and the only frontal-depiction bas-relief looking down on Congress of 23 reliefs of great historical lawgivers?
A stained-glass window in the chapel of the U.S. Capitol depicts George Washington with the words of Psalms 16:1 written around him and the words "This Nation Under God" above his head.
The Ten Commandments also are displayed on the floor of the National Archives, just 100 feet or so in front of the original copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
The prayer of President John Adams, the first president to occupy the White House, was inscribed on the mantel in the State Dining Room: "I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof."
And Moses and/or the Ten Commandments are depicted a whopping 64 times on the U.S. Supreme Court building.
Do we believe any of these Judeo-Christian displays could be erected today in Washington, let alone in any other civic setting across the country? Why is it that those in yesteryear didn't decry them as violations of the separation of church and state? It's because they didn't see displaying God or religion as a violation of the First Amendment but a practice of it.
That is one of many facts about America's Founding Fathers that I explain in my new book, "The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book," a fun yet inspirational and educational book in which I share my 101 favorite Chuck Norris "facts" and 101 related stories that pivot around five core values: freedom, family, faith, fitness and fight. (Set for release Nov. 1, it is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com for less than $10, and proceeds will go to help
http://www.KickStartKids.org.)
Last week, I gave a sneak peek of a "Freedom" entry from the book. I discussed the Second Amendment and our right to bear firearms. In this column, I'd like to share an entry from my "Faith" code in which I discuss the First Amendment.
Official Chuck Norris Fact No. 54:
"They wanted to put Chuck Norris on Mount Rushmore, but the granite wasn't tough enough for his beard."
Let's be honest ...
One of the geniuses of America's Founding Fathers was to provide and secure a foundation for our freedom of religious belief. The First Amendment simply reads, "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."
When Thomas Jefferson originally penned his legendary commentary on the First Amendment -- "a wall of separation between Church and State" -- in his letter to the Danbury Baptists in 1802, he was concerned with prohibiting the domination and legislation of religious sectarianism in government, as it was back in England and even in some early colonies, such as Virginia. However, he was not trying to rid government of religious influence.
That does not mean we enforce one religion on all people -- that is what the First Amendment protects us from. I believe in the separation of religious sectarianism from government and protecting our religious institutions, such as churches, from the long arm of the federal government. I don't believe, however, in an erroneous interpretation of the Bill of Rights, or of Jefferson's and Madison's interpretive words, that would restrict religious or speech freedoms or produce a secular-progressive barrier that bans any religious influence in society.
Whatever your religious persuasion, don't be ashamed of it. This is America. And that's one of the things that still makes us a great nation. In God we trust.
They said it ...
"There! His Majesty can now read my name without glasses. And he can double the reward on my head!" -- John Hancock, after signing his name in large letters on the Declaration of Independence
Chuck's Code (Faith):
"In God We Trust -- all others we search." A statement from my friend Dave LaGroue, who is a California Highway Patrolman.
http://townhall.com/columnists/ChuckNorris/2009/10/20/god_and_guns,_part_2
