A Dose Of Reality by Joseph Harris

Patriotism

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All articles on this web site may be reprinted, but only exactly as found here and with "Joseph Harris" and "www.miniedition.net" included in the body.

The following is an excerpt from a title originally published as "The Life of Colonel David Crockett,"  by Edward Sylvester Ellis.  It is a sobering article and much needed today as it is a staunch reminder of the limited responsibility of government and who the money appropriated by the government actually belongs to.  Enjoy and pass it on.  It is lengthy, but well worth the time of any true patriot who is concerned about America in this time of the Marxinization (new word?) of this country. - Joseph Harris -

Not Yours To Give

Col. David Crockett
US Representative from Tennessee

One day in the House of Representatives a bill was taken up appropriating money for the benefit of a widow of a distinguished naval officer. Several beautiful speeches had been made in its support. The Speaker was just about to put the question when Crockett arose:

"Mr. Speaker--I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased, and as much sympathy for the sufferings of the living, if suffering there be, as any man in this House, but we must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for a part of the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has not the power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member upon this floor knows it. We have the right, as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right so to appropriate a dollar of the public money. Some eloquent appeals have been made to us upon the ground that it is a debt due the deceased. Mr. Speaker, the deceased lived long after the close of the war; he was in office to the day of his death, and I have never heard that the government was in arrears to him.

"Every man in this House knows it is not a debt. We cannot, without the grossest corruption, appropriate this money as the payment of a debt. We have not the semblance of authority to appropriate it as charity. Mr. Speaker, I have said we have the right to give as much money of our own as we please. I am the poorest man on this floor. I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week's pay to the object, and if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks."

He took his seat. Nobody replied. The bill was put upon its passage, and, instead of passing unanimously, as was generally supposed, and as, no doubt, it would, but for that speech, it received but few votes, and, of course, was lost.

Later, when asked by a friend why he had opposed the appropriation, Crockett gave this explanation:

"Several years ago I was one evening standing on the steps of the Capitol with some other members of Congress, when our attention was attracted by a great light over in Georgetown. It was evidently a large fire. We jumped into a hack and drove over as fast as we could. In spite of all that could be done, many houses were burned and many families made houseless, and, besides, some of them had lost all but the clothes they had on. The weather was very cold, and when I saw so many women and children suffering, I felt that something ought to be done for them. The next morning a bill was introduced appropriating $20,000 for their relief. We put aside all other business and rushed it through as soon as it could be done.

"The next summer, when it began to be time to think about election, I concluded I would take a scout around among the boys of my district. I had no opposition there, but, as the election was some time off, I did not know what might turn up. When riding one day in a part of my district in which I was more of a stranger than any other, I saw a man in a field plowing and coming toward the road. I gauged my gait so that we should meet as he came to the fence. As he came up, I spoke to the man. He replied politely, but, as I thought, rather coldly.

"I began: 'Well, friend, I am one of those unfortunate beings called
candidates, and---


"Yes I know you; you are Colonel Crockett. I have seen you once before, and voted for you the last time you were elected. I suppose you are out electioneering now, but you had better not waste your time or mine, I shall not vote for you again."

"This was a sockdolager...I begged him to tell me what was the matter.

" Well, Colonel, it is hardly worth-while to waste time or words upon it. I do not see how it can be mended, but you gave a vote last winter which shows that either you have not capacity to understand the Constitution, or that you are wanting in the honesty and firmness to be guided by it. In either case you are not the man to represent me. But I beg your pardon for expressing it in that way. I did not intend to avail myself of the privilege of the constituent to speak plainly to a candidate for the purpose of insulting or wounding you. I intend by it only to say that your understanding of the Constitution is very different from mine; and I will say to you what, but for my rudeness, I should not have said, that I believe you to be honest.
But an understanding of the C
onstitution different from mine I cannot overlook, because the Constitution, to be worth anything, must be held sacred, and rigidly observed in all its provisions. The man who wields power and misinterprets it is the more dangerous the more honest he is.'

" 'I admit the truth of all you say, but there must be some mistake
about it, for I do not remember that I gave any vote last winter upon any constitutional question.’

“ ‘No, Colonel, there’s no mistake. Though I live in the backwoods and seldom go from home, I take the papers from Washington and read very carefully all the proceedings of Congress. My papers say that last winter you voted for a bill to appropriate $20,000 to some sufferers by a fire in Georgetown. Is that true?

"
Well, my friend; I may as well own up. You have got me there. But certainly nobody will complain that a great and rich country like ours should give the insignificant sum of $20,000 to relieve its suffering women and children, particularly with a full and overflowing Treasury, and I am sure, if you had been there, you would have done just as I did.'

"
It is not the amount, Colonel, that I complain of; it is the principle. In the first place, the government ought to have in the Treasury no more than enough for its legitimate purposes. But that has nothing with the question. The power of collecting and disbursing money at pleasure is the most dangerous power that can be entrusted to man, particularly under our system of collecting revenue by a tariff, which reaches every man in the country, no matter how poor he may be, and the poorer he is the more he pays in proportion to his means. What is worse, it presses upon him without his knowledge where the weight centers, for there is not a man in the United States who can ever guess how much he pays to the government. So you see, that while you are contributing to relieve one, you are drawing it from thousands who are even worse off than he. If you had the right to give anything, the amount was simply a matter of discretion with you, and you had as much right to give $20,000,000 as $20,000. If you have the right to give to one, you have the right to give to all; and, as the Constitution neither defines charity nor stipulates the amount, you are at liberty to give to any and everything which you may believe, or profess to believe, is a charity, and to any amount you may think proper. You will very easily perceive what a wide door this would open for fraud and corruption and favoritism, on the one hand, and for robbing the people on the other. 'No, Colonel, Congress has no right to give charity. Individual members may give as much of their own money as they please, but they have no right to touch a dollar of the public money for that purpose. If twice as many houses had been burned in this county as in Georgetown, neither you nor any other member of Congress would have thought of appropriating a dollar for our relief. There are about two hundred and forty members of Congress. If they had shown their sympathy for the sufferers by contributing each one week's pay, it would have made over $13,000. There are plenty of wealthy men in and around Washington who could have given $20,000 without depriving themselves of even a luxury of life.' "The congressmen chose to keep their own money, which, if reports be true, some of them spend not very creditably; and the people about Washington, no doubt, applauded you for relieving them from the necessity of giving by giving what was not yours to give. The people have delegated to Congress, by the Constitution, the power to do certain things. To do these, it is authorized to collect and pay moneys, and for nothing else. Everything beyond this is usurpation, and a violation of the Constitution.'


" 'So you see, Colonel, you have violated the Constitution in what I consider a vital point. It is a precedent fraught with danger to the country, for when Congress once begins to stretch its power beyond the limits of the Constitution, there is no limit to it, and no security for the people. I have no doubt you acted honestly, but that does not make it any better, except as far as you are personally concerned, and you see that I cannot vote for you.'

"I tell you I felt streaked. I saw if I should have opposition, and this man should go to talking, he would set others to talking, and in that district I was a gone fawn-skin. I could not answer him, and the fact is, I was so fully convinced that he was right, I did not want to. But I must satisfy him, and I said to him:

"
Well, my friend, you hit the nail upon the head when you said I had not sense enough to understand the Constitution. I intended to be guided by it, and thought I had studied it fully. I have heard many speeches in Congress about the powers of Congress, but what you have said here at your plow has got more hard, sound sense in it than all the fine speeches I ever heard. If I had ever taken the view of it that you have, I would have put my head into the fire before I would have given that vote; and if you will forgive me and vote for me again, if I ever vote for another unconstitutional law I wish I may be shot.'

"He laughingly replied; 'Yes, Colonel, you have sworn to that once before, but I will trust you again upon one condition. You say that you
are convinced that your vote was wrong. Your acknowledgment of it will do more good than beating you for it. If, as you go around the district, you will tell people about this vote, and that you are satisfied it was wrong, I will not only vote for you, but will do what I can to keep down opposition, and,
perhaps, I may exert some little influence in that way.'

"
If I don't
, said I, 'I wish I may be shot; and to convince you that I am in earnest in what I say I will come back this way in a week or ten days, and if you will get up a gathering of the people, I will make a speech to them. Get up a barbecue, and I will pay for it.'

"
No, Colonel, we are not rich people in this section, but we have plenty of provisions to contribute for a barbecue, and some to spare for those who have none. The push of crops will be over in a few days, and we can then afford a day for a barbecue. This is Thursday; I will see to getting it up on Saturday week. Come to my house on Friday, and we will go together, and I promise you a very respectable crowd to see and hear you.


" 'Well
, I will be here. But one thing more before I say good-bye. I must know your name.

" 'My name is Bunce.'

" 'Not Horatio Bunce?'

" 'Yes
.’

" 'Well, Mr. Bunce, I never saw you before, though you say you have seen me, but I know you very well. I am glad I have met you, and very proud that I may hope to have you for my friend.'

"It was one of the luckiest hits of my life that I met him. He mingled but little with the public, but was widely known for his remarkable intelligence and incorruptible integrity,  and for a heart brimful and running over with kindness and benevolence, which showed themselves not only in words but in acts. He was the oracle of the whole country around him, and his fame had extended far beyond the circle of his immediate acquaintance. Though I had never met him
, before, I had heard much of him, and but for this meeting it is very likely I should have had opposition, and had been beaten. One thing is very certain, no man could now stand up in that district under such a vote.

"At the appointed time I was at his house, having told our conversation to every crowd I had met, and to every man I stayed all night with, and I found that it gave the people an interest and a confidence in me stronger than I had ever seen manifested before.

"Though I was considerably fatigued when I reached his house, and, under ordinary circumstances, should have gone early to bed, I kept him up until midnight
,
talking about the principles and affairs of government, and got more real, true knowledge of them than I had got all my life before.

"I have known and seen much of him since, for I respect him - no, that is not the word - I reverence and love him more than any living man, and I go to see him two or three times every year; and I will tell you, sir, if every one who professes to be a Christian lived and acted and enjoyed it as he does, the religion of Christ would take the world by storm.

"But to return to my story. The next morning we went to the barbecue
,
and, to my surprise, found about a thousand men there. I met a good many whom I had not known before, and they and my friend introduced me around until I had got pretty well acquainted - at least, they all knew me.

"In due time notice was given that I would speak to them. They gathered up around a stand that had been erected. I opened my speech by saying:

"
Fellow-citizens - I present myself before you today feeling like a new man. My eyes have lately been opened to truths which ignorance or prejudice, or both, had heretofore hidden from my view. I feel that I can today offer you the ability to render you more valuable service than I have ever been able to render before. I am here today more for the purpose of acknowledging my error than to seek your votes. That I should make this acknowledgment is due to myself as well as to you. Whether you will vote for me is a matter for your consideration only."


"I went on to tell them about the fire and my vote for the appropriation and then told them why I was satisfied it was wrong. I closed by saying:

"
And now, fellow-citizens, it remains only for me to tell you that the most of the speech you have listened to with so much interest was simply a repetition of the arguments by which your neighbor, Mr. Bunce, convinced me of my error.

"
It is the best speech I ever made in my life, but he is entitled to the
credit for it. And now I hope he is satisfied with his convert and that he will get up here and tell you so.'

"He came upon the stand and said:

"
Fellow-citizens - I
t affords me great pleasure to comply with the request of Colonel Crockett. I have always considered him a thoroughly honest man, and I am satisfied that he will faithfully perform all that he has promised you today.'

"He went down, and there went up from that crowd such a shout for Davy Crockett as his name never called forth before.
'

"I am not much given to tears, but I was taken with a choking then and felt some big drops rolling down my cheeks. And I tell you now that the remembrance of those few words spoken by such a man, and the honest, hearty shout they produced, is worth more to me than all the honors I have received and all the reputation I have ever made, or ever shall make, as a member of Congress.
'

"Now, sir," concluded Crockett, "you know why I made that speech yesterday.

"There is one thing now to which I will call your attention.
You remember that I proposed to give a week's pay. There are in that House many very wealthy men - men who think nothing of spending a week's pay, or a dozen of them, for a dinner or a wine party when they have something to accomplish by it. Some of those same men made beautiful speeches upon the great debt of gratitude which the country owed the deceased--a debt which could not be paid by money--and the insignificance and worthlessness of money, particularly so insignificant a sum as $10,000,  when weighed against the honor of the nation. Yet not one of them responded to my proposition. Money with them is nothing but trash when it is to come out of the people. But it is the one great thing for which most of them are striving, and many of them sacrifice honor, integrity, and justice to obtain it."

Concerning Patriotism

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Joseph Harris

ILLEGAL ALIEN Invasion

     Notice the emphasis on two words in the title of this commentary: ILLEGAL ALIEN.  I emphasize these words as I speak about this current real problem and threat to America's financial well being and cultural stability.  This invasion from Mexico has reached epidemic proportions and no one in power seems to even notice that there is a problem. 
     Don't be fooled by all the media hype.  Border crashers are ILLEGAL and they are ALIENS to this country.  A few years back, political correctness tried to tone down the harshness and began calling them illegal immigrants.  Now they even resent this label.  Well, either they are illegal or they are not.  The next step is to call them unauthorized immigrants which eventually will be followed by the title unauthorized Americans or Americans without citizenship.  They are already referred to as undocumented workers. 
     I for one am sick and tired of Mexico sending troops in to take over.  Notice, I did not say I was sick of Mexicans.  I am tired of the ILLEGAL (there's that word again) ones.  I am tired of them breaking the law and bypassing the legal steps to become  citizens.  I am tired of them demanding amnesty or immediate citizenship, as if it is their right by virtue of their presence in this country.  It is a slap in the face to those who obey the law and earn legitimate citizenship.  People who become Americans are supposed to learn the language, pass tests, and have a knowledge of our history and political system so they can appreciate and respect this country and be assimilated into the American culture.  In years past, during the time of real immigration at Ellis Island, America was known as the melting pot.  If immigrants do not melt into the pot, then the pot ceases to be one pot of unity, creating many pots of individual cultures of division.   Then America ceases to be unique and loses her identity.  But I digress.  The real issue is not that of melting but of what is legal.
     I am tired of real, genuine, bona fide Americans being called racist when they speak the truth on this issue.  More and more ILLEGALS are attending the Jackson/Sharpton race card playing school and learning the lingo.  I wish they would spend as much time learning English.......and abiding by the law.
     I am tired of the law not being enforced.  Call me crazy, but shouldn't illegals be arrested and deported? 
     I am tired of George Bush, Republicans and Democrats selling us down the river as they flip and flop around with spines of jelly.  It has always amazed me how politicans can stand erect on two legs without falling.  It takes a spine, so how do these guys even walk upright?
     I'm tired of the accusation of not being Christian about the situation.  Being Christian means following the law.  Why is it Christians are always supposed to do the right thing, but lawbreakers are exempt?
     I am tired of being told by computers,  when making a phone call, to press "one" to continue in English.  EVERYTHING should automatically be in English, with an option to press "one" if Spanish is needed.
     I am tired of illegals having access to government services.
     Basically, I am tired of being told I am the bad guy and America is the problem.  As I read somewhere recently, America is a private country with borders (supposedly) and laws, not a public park with open access.
  Joseph Harris is the Vice President of Southeastern Baptist College in Laurel, MS.(This article may be reprinted in whole, as long as the name Joseph Harris and www.miniedition.net also appear)  


 "If things don't change soon, you better brush up on your Spanish"

The Paradox of Freedom

Freedom is not free. Liberty is one of the most misunderstood and least appreciated privileges enjoyed today. The desire for liberty is built into every man by God, the creator of all men. Men desire to be free from oppression and exercise volition for self determination, and pursuit of this desire has led to the death of many men, women, and children, who chose to take risks and seek liberty, rather than remain in bondage.

Freedom is what America represents and is the main reason she is hated and despised by those who seek to enslave people religiously and politically. Freedom may appear to be "free" to it's recipients, but rest assured, when freedom is obtained, someone, somewhere, paid a price.

Freedom is often the result of bondage. In order to have the freedom to purchase services and products, one must first be in bondage to employment, to have money, to be able to purchase. The bondage of a 9-5 job(or any other hours) secures money which gives the ability to purchase. Even if someone purchases merchandise with money received as a gift or a grant, someone, somewhere, provided that money through their bondage or commitment to produce through their labor.

The freedom for a pianist to perform comes only after the bondage of lessons and practice, which requires work. It is only after the price of study and practice has been paid, that the freedom to perform becomes a reality. Try playing the piano or any other instrument with no lessons, or practice and you will get the point. Men and women are free to have sexual intimacy with one another, but only after the commitment(some would say bondage) of marriage has been made. Marriage is a type of bondage, however, because husband and wife promise to be bound exclusively to one another, hence this bondage produces the freedom for intimacy with one another. "Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge" Hebrews 13:4.

Not only must a price be paid to secure freedom, but there is also a maintenance fee. Freedom costs. The recipients of freedom must ever be aware of those who would steal liberty under the guise of promising "more freedom for all" by playing on emotions and using "discrimination and inequality" as a battle cry. The erroneously named American Civil Liberties Union and other groups, promote an unlimited, one-sided freedom for abortionists, pornographers, pedophiles, homosexuals and other transsexual deviants, while trampling on the freedom of normal Americans, especially conservative Christians. Believers in God must walk the tightrope of being active, yet never becoming activists to the point of promoting morality above the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, if ungodliness is free to reign, eventually all freedoms will be destroyed, and bondage to sin, Satan, and ungodly government will result.

The greatest freedom in the world is liberty from sin and freedom from eternal punishment in the lake of fire, through eternal salvation, but notice the paradox of price this FREEdom required. It was secured by the payment of the Son of God on Calvary with the highest price ever paid for any purchase. We only have freedom through Christ by first surrendering totally to Christ. And we do not have freedom to "come boldly unto the throne" as God's children, until we first submit at the throne. An absolute freedom, in the sense of no price being required by anyone, does not exist. Where freedom is a reality, someone, somewhere, has paid and is paying the price and carrying the burden of liberty, so freedom can exist. Let freedom ring.    Joseph Harris  www.miniedition.net

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Joseph Harris

The Magnet of Freedom (My 9-11 Tribute)

Have you noticed how America is either hated or loved. There is no middle ground. There are a few reasons why this is so. A couple of those reasons are freedom and prosperity, and prosperity would not be possible without individual freedom. Freedom is not a privilege granted, but is a prize won, and not often without blood. With individual freedom come the individual rights we all enjoy, and which some exploit. The desire for freedom and liberty has done more to motivate men throughout history than any other earthly treasure sought.

Centuries ago, men desiring freedom from religious shackles found it at Plymouth Rock. In modern times, the masses of the beaten, bruised, and bound have thronged to the statue of liberty, but never to the statue of Lenin..........nor of Trotsky, Stalin, or Marx. People have never flocked to chains of slavery, but have always fled from bondage and ruthless dictators and despotic governments. How many boats have left from America in the past 200 years, bound for Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, etc, in search of a better life of freedom? ZERO! People aren't drawn to bondage, but to freedom.        

     The desire for freedom to worship, work and prosper, own property, bear arms, and choose leadership in government, has driven men and women to unspeakable hardships. The government of the USA is unprecedented in its rise to world power in such a brief amount of time, when compared with other world kingdoms. The God-given desire for liberty is one of the strongest driving forces known to man. Communist and socialistic totalitarian governments have never been successful, because they are built on benefiting the few who control, while claiming to be a "People's Government", yet always trampling on the common people.

I'm sure not one person who died on 9-11, other than the insane terrorists, planned on dying that day. Not a one of them thought of giving their life, that day, for this country that espouses and practices of freedom as no other country has. The enemies of freedom hate liberty and the prosperity it brings. Everyone who gave their life that day, died unknowingly in a battle for freedom. They did not die in vain. Let us always remember 9-11, the terror, fire, sorrow, horror, and death, but especially the hate that caused it. Religious fanatics killed that day because they hated freedom of conscience, freedom of choice, and probably most of all, freedom of religion.

Don't believe the lie that we must now forget, pick up the pieces, and go on with our lives. If we do not burn this event and its cause into our memory for future prevention and protection, there will be no life to go on with.  Joseph Harris www.miniedition.net

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