I remember soon after I became a Christian in the late seventies and learned just enough of the Bible to become a “loose cannon,” I got into a heated discussion with my uncle, who was an atheist. In response to one of his comments, I replied with the utmost of confidence (and probably cockiness), “But the Bible says, “Xyz!” As I stood there, so proud of myself for remembering that scripture and expecting him to drop to his knees in repentance any second, I was shocked to hear him say, “Yeah, but I don’t believe the Bible.”

That completely threw me for a loop, and I had no comeback. I mistakenly thought that we were somehow beginning with the same “square one” and then diverged on some subsequent square. Like maybe he believed the Bible was good and true but that it was written solely by the wisdom of man. I didn’t know for sure what he believed, except that he was an atheist. But given my maturity level at the time, I knew our conversation was over. When two people can no longer debate using the authority of the Bible as the starting point, the conversation has to change into a completely different conversation. And I was not prepared at the time to go there.

James Madison … Cancel Culture’s Next Victim?

It seems the right and the left have reached a similar point in the debate regarding the Constitution. We on the right keep screaming, “But the Constitution says, “Xyz!” But sadly, the response is never, “Oh, wow … you’re right. There it is in black and white. Got me.” No, they only see it as obsolete and a roadblock to implementing their agenda. And there’s a growing number on the Left who appear to hate the Constitution and all that it stands for. I’m not saying all on Leftists hate the Constitution, but all who hate the Constitution seem to be on the Left.

For instance, Article 4 Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution states: “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion.” The powers that be on the Left can quote that, and yet we’ve witnessed an all-out invasion at our southern border for nearly two and a half years. They have invaded from more than 160 countries, and a recent Pew Research poll found that 63% of them are coming from countries other than Mexico and the Northern Triangle.

A recent NPR poll found that a majority of Americans say there is an “invasion” at the southern border. (And buckle-up for Thursday’s expiration of Title 42.) But nobody — not even the “Border Czar” or the Secretary of Homeland Security — nobody in this administration cares. They are well aware of Article 4, Section 4, but they still allow (and welcome) the invasion.

Silence Is Not Always Golden

The Left can quote the First Amendment, but they’ve silenced many on the right for years. Remember how they silenced the story about Hunter’s laptop before the 2020 election? They have imprisoned people who didn’t even go into the Capitol on January 6, but were just exercising their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly. They recently convicted Douglass Mackey for simply posting a meme about Hillary Clinton in jest.

From the floor of the Senate (and in an open letter), Majority Leader Schumer publicly called on Rupert Murdoch to silence Tucker Carlson. (Hmm. And just like that, it happened.) And they hate the fact that Elon Musk, a proponent of the First Amendment, bought Twitter.

They can quote the Second Amendment, but they’ve been coming after our guns for years (but not their security details).

They can quote the Sixth Amendment, and yet they conducted two phony impeachment trials without allowing the Trump team to confront his accusers. And Alvin Bragg knows the Sixth Amendment like the back of his hand. But I’ll bet a dollar to a donut he will not move Trump’s trial out of Manhattan to a place where he has any chance of facing an “impartial jury,” which is guaranteed in the Sixth Amendment.

The only way our Constitution is worth the paper it’s written on is when we, the people, and all of our leaders — on both sides of the aisle — accept it as the foundation on which everything else rests. Albert Einstein said, “The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defense are the constitutional rights secure.”

The Constitution has served us well for 233 years this month, but that’s only because we’ve been able to maintain a majority of our citizenry who were of decent moral character and loyal to the document.

My concern is that we eventually go the way of other nations. Read these excerpts from the constitutions of some corrupt and tyrannical countries, and I’ll have some closing comments on the other side.

Russia

“Fundamental human rights and freedoms are inalienable and shall be enjoyed by everyone since the day of birth.”

“Everyone shall be guaranteed the freedom of conscience, the freedom of religion.”

“Everyone shall be guaranteed the freedom of ideas and speech.”

“Censorship shall be banned.”

“The right of private property shall be protected by law.”

Syria

“The political system of the state shall be based on the principle of political pluralism, and exercising power democratically through the ballot box.”

“Society in the Syrian Arab Republic shall be based on the basis of … freedom, equality and maintenance of human dignity of every individual.”

“The state shall provide women with all opportunities enabling them to effectively and fully contribute to the political, economic, social and cultural life.”

Rwanda

“The principle governing the Republic is ‘government of the people, by the people and for the people.’”

“National sovereignty belongs to the people who shall exercise it directly by way of referendum or through their representatives.”

Venezuela

“Invoking the protection of God … in a just, federal and decentralized State that embodies the values of freedom, independence, peace, solidarity, the common good.”

“Holds as superior values of its legal order and actions those of life, liberty, justice, equality, solidarity, democracy, social responsibility and, in general, the preeminence of human rights, ethics and political pluralism.”

Cuba

“In the Republic of Cuba, sovereignty resides nontransferably with the people, from which all of the State’s power emanates. The people exercise this power directly and via Assemblies of People’s Power and other organs of the State.”

Saying the Right Things; Doing the Right Things

The point being, these corrupt, tyrannical governments’ constitutions say a lot of the right things, but they’re just “window dressing.” God, help us to maintain the character, morality, and courage to actually carry out our Constitution as the law of the land.

Abraham Lincoln said, “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”

Nolan Lewallen is a retired pilot of a major airline and lives near Stephenville, Texas, with his wife, Kim. Nolan’s two greatest passions are the Bible and politics. His latest book, The Integration of Church & State: How We Transform “In God We Trust” From Motto to Reality, brings the two together.