(The following is a transcript of a presentation given by Rev. Terry at Camp Constitution’s 3rd annual weekend family retreat. There is a link to a video of the presentation below.)
Opening Observations and Points
Government, when operating at its best, provides for the ordering of a society or group of people such that the best interests of the society or group, and determined by a majority of such, are honored and advanced for the common good.
Government was instituted by God in response to the historical situation in which Moses and the Israelite people found themselves aRer achieving freedom from enslavement (see Numbers 11 and the provision of 70 elders and officers to assist Moses inleading/governing the people).
Eventually, the people of Israel became discontented with this arrangement and
demanded a king so that they might be like other nations (see 1 Samuel 8).
Israel as a divided monarchy (northern first, then southern) ended with foreign
conquests in 722 BC (see 2 Kings 17:6) and 586 BC (see 2 Kings 24-25 and 2 Chronicles Failure and catastrophe due to persistent gross disobedience.
The Apostle Paul reiterates in his Letter to the churches in Rome (NT “Romans”) that government is God’s provision for the nations of the world: “there is no authority except that which God has established. The authority that exist have been established by God” Romans 13:1b-2, NIV).
Who is/are the government?
The instructions Paul laid out in Romans 13 had in view the Mediterranean world area that comprised the Roman Empire. The government was the emperor and the ruling class, enforced by military power. Ever since the success of our American War of Independence (1776 and following), the people of the United States are the government. We refer to elected and appointed officeholders as the government, but in fact and for the first time in history we the people are both the governed and the government that governs. As President Abraham Lincoln famously declared in his Gettysburg address (November 19, 1863) during the War between the States:
“The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
The Christan’s Responsibilities
Even as we are to…
“Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.”
– Matthew 16:9-10 (ESV)
Q – How will the Father’s “will be done on earth as it is in heaven?”
A – Ideally, by the hands and hearts of those who are committed to seeking the Father’s will. And yet, estimates from reliable sources, such as www.myfaithvotes.org:
“For years, Christians have bought into the lie that faith is a private matter. As a result, more than 25 million Christians who are registered to vote do not vote in Presidential Elections and as many as 65 million Christians do not vote in local elections.”
Disturbingly, 25 to 65 million professing Christians are not actively involved by being “government by the people” in furthering our LORD’s prayerful petition that we are to pray and live, “your will be done on earth.”
Conclusion: As with ancient Israel, the United States—a nation founded upon acknowledgement of the sovereignty of God and a belief in the necessity to live according to the Will of God and revealed in the Word of God, by departing from and rejecting its goldy heritage stands in desperate need of repentance and return to God. The responsibility of the decline of the nation can be laid in large part due to the failure of the Church in America (that is, Christians individually and their churches). As I wrote recently, “If America falls it will be the because of
the Church in America.”
Q – Is it too late for America to be saved?
A – If Nineveh, the city of the pagan and wicked Assyrians, could be spared from imminent judgment upon hearing and heeding the call to repentance as preached by the prophet Jonah, this one of several biblical precedents suggests it is not too late for America if: The Church awakens to its call to be “salt and light” (Matthew 5);, and in the words of the prophet Isaiah, accepts our calling to be [God’s] light to the nation(s) – Isaiah 49:6 with reference to Jesus, but then to the Church in Acts 13:47!
“For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,
‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” – Acts 13:47 (ESV)
Because God’s people, the Church, are appointed to be a “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9cf. Exodus 19:6, “kingdom of priests”); and because the priestly function involves both proclamation (God > people) and interceding (people > God); then the Church, and we as members thereof, should be declaring God’s will in word and deed and praying for the nation of which we are earthly citizens. Indeed, 2 Chronicles 7:14 is our charge (i.e., call to duty and action):
“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pes.lence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:13-14, ESV).
Q – Will God through prayer alone forgive and save America?
A – Prayer alone does not change the world. God works by the power of answering prayer and faith put into action. Remember, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (see James 2:14-26, and especially verse 17 [ESV], cited above).
Q – Who built the Ark? __________________
Q – Who confronted Egypt’s Pharaoh? _______________
Q – Who slew Goliath and turned the against the Philistines? _____________
Q – Who confronted the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel? _____________
Q – Who went before the king of Persia in an effort to save her people from genocide?
________________
Q – Who contended for the Gospel of Jesus Christ before the Emperor of Rome?
__________________
Conclusion – God’s will is done through the prayers and faithful actions of people who put their prayers AND faith to work in God’s service.
Q – What should I do to be faithful?
By all means, begin by PRAYING.
ACTIONS:
___ Pray yourself. Consider writing a prayer that you then pray each day. It can
be a prayer to which you can add concerns as circumstances change.
• ___ Pray with others and with focus and specificity. Start a prayer group that
meets weekly to pray in accordance with 1 Timothy 2:1-4 (ESV):
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions,
that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all
people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
AND:
For specific ways in which your local, state, and national government
officeholders will conduct themselves honorably in the sight of God and enact
and carry out programs and policies that further the dictates and principles of
God’s Word
___ Ask your pastor to pray, and/or have an elder pray during corporate
(congregational) worship for the country, for officeholders, for God to raise up
godly people to serve in local, state, and national offices. Ask him and them to
pray specifically for issues confronJng us and for which we need God’s wisdom,
guidance and courage.
Key point: The prayer prayed by your pastor/elder/deacon will serve both as an example for how members should pray and for what they should pray! Far too many American churches have discarded or severely abbreviated prayer during corporate (Sunday) worship. Is it any wonder that the American Church is anemic in its priestly duty before God!
Get INVOLVED
___ ACTION: Begin attending school board meetings, select board/town or city council
Listen and learn. This will assist you with ACTION Item 1, too! Introduce yourself to board/council members.
___ ACTION: Encourage your pastor and church governing board to host an elected
officials appreciation breakfast, lunch or dinner. Have places set for them that will give you the maximum opportunity to become acquainted. Do NOT seat all of them at the “head table!” Be friendly and kind. Do not quiz them on issues. This is not the time or place for that! Have your pastor or an elder invite them to stand, introduce themselves (clap, smile) and then lead in a prayer of thanks and blessing. Conclude by having
someone near each official ask how the church might be able to help with some concern or cause that is important to him or her and the community. Forward responses to pastor and governing board for ACTIONS. Follow up: “What are you doing? Is there anything I can do to help?”
___ ACTION: Prayerfully consider running for an office. Especially if you are not well known, start modestly, perhaps running for your town’s Budget Committee BEFORE you run for the Selectboard or City Council. Guess what? It is not unlikely that at least some who when they first began to serve know as much as you do about the job. Listen and learn, but do NOT sell yourself short.
___ ACTION: Visit the State Capitol. Let your State Representative know you are coming. (In the New Hampshire House, guests are announced by name at the beginning of each session!)
___ ACTION: Ask your Representative or Senator to be your guest for a meal, either at a restaurant, or in your home. Offer prayer over the meal and ask God to bless your Representative. This may lead to a personal friendship! • Key point: You are more likely to meet with success with respect to an issue that you support if you have established a friendly, personal acquaintance or friendship with the officeholder.
___ ACTION: By all means write Letters to the Editor of your local newspaper. Don’t be afraid! When you write, be sure to not only make your belief/positions, but also let people who agree with you know what they can do.
___ ACTION: Consider getting involved on your community Facebook (e.g.) page. Be tactful and friendly. Do not argue with others. Arguing on social media is like walking into quicksand. You won’t get anywhere, except sink!
___ ACTION: Begin attending your town/city/county political party committee meetings. This way you will increase your awareness of issue for which to do what? First, pray. And second, network with others to do some good!
___ ACTION: Get out of your comfort zone or “bubble.” The longer people are Christians, the greater the tendency they have to associate with Christians only. You can be “so heavenly minded you will end up being of no earthly good.” If the salt remains in the saltshaker (Matthew 5:13), what good is it for others? Your community? Your state and the nation?
“So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10, ESV)
Do not give up!
• Do not give in!
• Do not go passive!
• More often than not, failures precede successes
• In the end, the question will not be how many successes you had, but were you
consistently faithful?
“ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” – 2 Timothy 4:7-8 (ESV)
Recommended reading:
Letter to the American Church, Eric Metaxas (Salem Books, 2022) Religion less Christianity: God’s Answer to Evil, by Eric Metaxas (Regnery Faith, 2024)
Out of the Saltshaker and into the World: Evangelism as a Way of Life, by Rebecca Manley
Pippert (IVP Signature Collection, 2021) / Note: First published in 1999, over 800,000 copies
sold!
Stay Salt: The World Has Changed…Our Message Has Not, by Rebecca Manley Pippert (The
Good Book Company, 2020) / Note: The Gospel Coalition Book Award – 2020
Faithful Politics: Ten Approaches to Citizenship and Why it Matters, by Miranda Zapor Cruz (IVP
Academic, 2024)
Revised: 10.17.2024
Dr. Felecia Nace, former New Jersey Department of Education Program Development Specialist, ex-teacher, and education consultant, has co-authored a controversial new book with noted Psychiatrist, Dr. John Liebert, MD, of Scottsdale Arizona. Some may recall Dr. Nace who was associated with a contentious Boston Speech at Boston’s first Straight Pride Parade in 2019.
Her speech stirred heated debate at a New Jersey college. At the time of the controversy, she served in the position as Board Trustee at Raritan Valley Community College (NJ). During her 2019 speech, she voiced strong disapproval about states that mandated the teaching of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual (LGBTQIA) history in K through 12 public schools.
Now, in a new co-authored book, Dr. Nace, shares in-depth views about LGBTQIA history lessons that have found their way into public-schools. Currently, six states mandate the LGBT+ curriculum: New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois, California, Colorado and Nevada. Nace describes in detail why she believes American children will not benefit from such lessons, but would instead greatly benefit from focusing on serious academic areas like science and mathematics. In the book, long-time psychiatrist and Dr. Nace’s co-author, Dr. John Liebert, weighs in on the subject with a chapter on transgenderism.
One of Nace’s chapters in the book is titled: “Artificial Intelligence.” Often, people use the term artificial intelligence when referring to computers or robotics. In the book, Nace talks about “artificial intelligence” as the brainwashing/indoctrination of children that happens when they are taught topics they don’t need for academic success. She calls this the dumbing down of curriculum. The book examines the following:
Who gets the ‘A’ in American classrooms? …Is it the child who simply “trusts the science” or the child who questions findings and conducts their own research?
Do today’s Public-School lessons teach children to be independent thinkers, entrepreneurs, and independent of government –or do today’s schools teach children to be more reliant on government agenda-driven education and ultimately less self-directed?
In public schools, are children being taught information that simply feed political agendas and is intended to lead them to vote for one political party?
Dr. Liebert is a Forensic Psychiatrist who was requested by the Atlanta Police Department to work on the Atlanta Child Murders case in the early 1980s. Liebert & Nace’s new book is titled: The Atlanta Child Murders: Their Message Today About Education, Politics, and Race Relations. Liebert recounts his experience profiling the gruesome Atlanta Child Murders case 40 years ago.
He unpacks details about the young victims, and convicted killer Wayne Williams who is believed to have killed most of the children. Dr. Nace adds to the book by comparing poverty in America then and now with a focus on declining quality of academic expectations in public schools, which she believes makes children vulnerable to predators.
A new database has revealed the “Dirty Dozen,” the 12 “worst-offending” hospitals in America for inflicting transgender agenda injuries on children.
And Mat Staver, the chief of Liberty Counsel, which has battled the leftist, and unscientific, ideology that males can be turned into females and vice versa, said, “Mutilating children for profit is criminal. It is biologically impossible to change one’s gender.
“The insanity of gender ideology and greed has made a mockery of the medical profession’s duty to ‘do no harm.’ There are only two genders, and the medical profession needs to return to sound science to treat mental health issues with proven psychiatric therapies to heal rather than harm.”
Under the science, being male or female is embedded in the human body down to the DNA level, and it cannot change.
Not surprising, many of the offending hospitals are located in far-left states, where the social agenda has taken over.
So it would be expected that Children’s Hospital Colorado, in the leftist Rocky Mountain state, and Children’s Minnesota, in that state now run by leftist Gov. Tim Walz, and Seattle Children’s, in the leftist Pacific region state, are included.
The full list of those hospitals:
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Connecticut Children’s Medical Center
Children’s Minnesota
Seattle Children’s
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Boston Children’s Hospital
Rady Children’s Hospital
Children’s National Medical Center
UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland
Children’s Hospital Colorado
UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
The listing is from a database compiled by Stop the Harm.
The Liberty Counsel report on those issue explained, “The group determined these 12 hospitals were the worst offenders based on a variety of factors, such as their community and legislative activism in favor of gender interventions, the number of prescriptions for puberty blockers and hormones written for minors, the severity of the procedures performed on children, and the cumulative amount of insurance claims billed for these interventions.
“According to the database, the top billing hospitals were Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York billing more than $8.2 million and Boston Children’s Hospital billing more than $6.5 million. The database also contains a detailed breakdown of each state and hospital where gender-related interventions were performed on children in the time period analyzed. The top states in both number of children mutilated and in total revenue for hospitals were California, New York, Oregon, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Specifically for California, with three hospitals on the ‘dirty dozen'” list, the state recorded 1,359 mutilating surgeries and 725 minors prescribed puberty blockers and hormones – all at a cost of $28,877,427.”
The report cited the nearly 14,000 “gender-confused children” “mutilated” by an industry that inflicts “harmful and irreversible genital surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormones” between 2019 and 2023.
The facilities were paid some $120 million for that, the report said.
Stop the Harm is a coalition of thousands of doctors, nurses, medical students and more “focused on keeping identity politics out of medical education, research, and clinical practice.”
Liberty Counsel revealed, “According to recent, peer-reviewed research published by the Heritage Foundation, U.S. states with easy access to puberty blockers and hormones for children actually have increased suicide rates. Additional data shows up to 88 percent of girls and up to 98 percent of boys with gender confusion ‘will desist’ from gender confusion with age, especially with counseling.”
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.
Bob Unruh joined WND in 2006 after nearly three decades with the Associated Press, as well as several Upper Midwest newspapers, where he covered everything from legislative battles and sports to tornadoes and homicidal survivalists. He is also a photographer whose scenic work has been used commercially. Read more of Bob Unruh’s articles here.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. The following is a letter to the editor that Sam Blumenfeld sent to the “Boston Globe.” I attended this event with Sam. A number of us wrote letters in the wake of the “Globe’s” the op=ed piece. Not one was published. (Editor)
To: Margery Pritchard, Op Ed Editor, The Boston Globe,
Hysteria on the Left
Chip Berlet’s op-ed piece, “Armed and dangerous,” which appeared in the Globe on January 6, is not only incredibly inept journalism but reminiscent of the kind of unfounded “guilt by association” charges attributed to the late Senator Joseph McCarthy. Nothing that the deranged John Salvi has done, said, or written indicates that he was influenced by any of the well-known organizations mentioned by Berlet, such as The John Birch Society, Concerned Women for America, or the National Right to Life Committee. In fact, Salvi ‘s rambling letter, published in the Globe on January 6, reveals a deplorable ignorance of the aims and precepts of these well-established organizations. I defy Mr. Berlet to find one word in the publications of these organizations that in any way encourages or condones the actions of those who would kill the providers of abortion. Salvi has only added to the tragedy of abortion, not alleviated it
As for the meeting held at Burlington High School last November, I was invited to speak on the subject of education, which I did. I was not told in advance that one of the exhibitors would be Den’s Gun Shop. But considering the fact that the right to own and bear arms, protected by the Second Amendment, has been under unrelenting attack by the liberals, I could understand the rationale of having a gun shop exhibit at the meeting. But to suggest by the craftiest of innuendos that people browsing at the gun shop table while pro-life leader Dr. Mildred Jefferson was speaking in another room indicates that she or the browsers or the exhibitor caused or condoned what John Salvi did is just about the sleaziest and most reprehensible piece of writing I have yet read by the promoters of hysteria on the left.
People on both the left and the right have had to deal with those deranged individuals who feel compelled to perpetrate acts of terror and horror. One does not blame liberal black leadership for the actions of the black man who shot up the passengers in the Long Island commuter train. We all understand that there is no way to control solo individuals bent on committing mayhem. But the concern of those of us on the right is the government’s potential for committing mayhem. Even Chip Berlet admitted to me that he deplored the way the U.S. government handled the Waco atrocity. And it is that atrocity, not abortion, that has galvanized gun owners into such defensive responses as the militia movement. But perhaps the worst of Berlet’s accusations is where he says that “There is a growing right-wing social movement that uses theological arguments to encourage direct confrontation of its targets and tolerates discussion of armed resistance.” I have been involved in the so-called right-wing movement since 1965 and not once have I heard of such theological arguments. In fact, I’ve heard just the opposite. Dr. R. J. Rushdoony, leader of the Christian Reconstruction movement, has strongly denounced demonstrations at abortion clinics let alone the murder of abortion providers. He believes, as most Christians do, that only the moral regeneration of the American people will put an end to legalized abortion. For Berlet to needlessly alarm the readers of the Globe into believing that conservative organizations have entered a new, sinister phase of armed confrontation with the left is not only to grossly misinform this newspaper’s readers but to libel those of us on the right who have spent the last 25 years writing, lecturing, and educating Americans about the vital issues our society faces. I also question the judgment of the editor who decided to use such an obviously provocative illustration and title for a smear article that strongly suggests that we on the right are moving toward Salvi-type terrorism .
I know that the Globe is a staunchly liberal newspaper, but I never thought it would stoop to such unadulterated, Nazi-like propaganda. Back in 1938, a young Jew assassinated the German ambassador in Paris. The Nazi propaganda machine blamed the Jews of Germany for the act of one deranged youth. The result was Kristallnacht during which Jewish synagogues and stores were burned and destroyed throughout Germany. The irony is that Chip Berlet, who thinks he’s defending liberalism, is unaware of how much like Goebbels he has become. Tragically, those who forget history are condemned to repeat it.
There are a number of misconceptions about Jews and, among other issues, their views on guns and politics. As a life member of both the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America, the author is also proud to be a current and early charter member of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (“JPFO”), a group about which many, non-Jews and Jews alike, have never heard.
JPFO describes itself as “America’s most aggressive defender of gun rights.” Founded in 1989, JPFO initially aimed at educating the Jewish community about the historical evils that Jews have suffered when they have been disarmed. JPFO has always welcomed people of all religious beliefs who share a common goal of opposing and reversing victim-disarmament policies while advancing liberty for all.
JPFO is a aneducational civil-rights organization, not a lobby. JPFO’s products and programs reach out to as many segments of the American people as possible without compromise on fundamental principles. JPFO has always welcomed people of all religious beliefs (or none) who share a common goal of opposing and reversing potentially deadly victim disarmament policies. You don’t have to be Jewish to join JPFO; you just have to love freedom. JPFO has vigorously stated that so-called “gun control” is a deadly lie. Firearms registration lists lead governments-gone-bad straight to gun owners. Licensing and registration of guns has resulted in outright banning and confiscation over the last one hundred years of world history. The bloody results of these mass citizen disarmaments have been horrific. For more about JPFO, see its website at https://jpfo.org/
A more recently formed group, called “Jews Can Shoot,” describes itself as a civil rights group that honors the memory of the Holocaust to preserve, protect and defend the Second Amendment and was formed for the purpose of education regarding gun laws, gun rights, legal precedent and cause-related advocacy. It also makes available a number of interesting in-your-face advocacy products, including some with the quote from the Babylonian Talmud: “If Someone Comes to Kill You, Rise Up and Kill Him First”. For more information, see its website at https://jewscanshoot.org/
And there are actually some gun clubs around the country that have regular shooting gatherings promoted as “Glocks & Bagels,” an obvious word play on the well-known Jewish breakfast of lox and bagels.
Guns are, in essence, inanimate tools for free people to utilize for self-defense, for food, and for recreation.
Now, on to politics . . .
A common misperception is that all, or substantially all, Jews are left wingers who vote Democrat no matter what. While that perception may have had some validity in the distant past, it is no longer true.
In our present political climate, there are very active groups of Jews aligned with Republicans and President Trump. See, for example, the Republican Jewish Coalition at https://www.rjchq.org/ and Jews Choose Trump at https://jewschoosetrump.com/.
Although the lefties at mainstream media actually sometime try to portray President Trump as antisemitic, that is a patently false narrative, especially considering that one of his children converted to Judaism several years ago (raising Trump’s grandchildren Jewish), and he has been a longtime stout defender of the State of Israel against Islamic terrorism and supporter of its rights of self-defense.
Furthermore, there are quite a number of prominent Jewish commentators on the right such as, for example, Ben Shapiro and Mark Levin.
Finally, some recent polling suggests that President Trump and other Republican candidates in the upcoming general election will receive a larger percentage of Jewish votes than ever before, rejecting the entreaties of self-hating Jews like Chuck Schumer, George Soros and the current significant other of Kamala Harris.
Abut the author: Norm Silber is a New Hampshire & Florida lawyer & political activist from Gilford. He served 2 terms as a NH State Representative, and is an active member of numerous politically-oriented advocacy organizations, including the New Hampshire Firearms Coalition. Like many American children, his first experience with firearms was with a single-shot bolt action .22 rifle in camp. Later, in his 3 years of law school in New Orleans (a notoriously tough neighborhood), he carried a Colt revolver while working part-time as a private detective. In early 1997, he successfully completed Massad Ayoob’s LFI-1 course entitled “The Judicious Use of Deadly Force.” The author’s current tastes and preferences run to Sig Sauer pistols, many of which are made in New Hampshire, and variety of other firearms- pistols, revolvers, rifles and shotguns. He is always armed when he leaves his home- he is fortunate enough to live in New Hampshire where true constitutional carry is the law. And he is Jewish.]
James worked farm chores, chopped trees, sawed logs, and drove horses. He walked five miles to and from a small school. Though he struggled academically, he learned honesty, initiative, independence, and ruggedness.
A poor student, he left school at age 15 and worked as a lumberjack. It was then that he had a life-changing encounter with Jesus.
Did you know BASKETBALL was invented by an instructor for the Young Men’s Christian Association.
The game was invented by James Naismith, who was born in 1861 in Ontario, Canada.
Both of his parents died of typhoid fever in 1870, when he was just nine years old.
He was taken in by his grandmother who died in 1872, leaving him with his Uncle Peter, who stressed self-reliance and reliability.
James worked farm chores, chopped trees, sawed logs, and drove horses. He walked five miles to and from a small school. Though he struggled academically, he learned honesty, initiative, independence, and ruggedness.
A poor student, he left school at age 15 and worked as a lumberjack. It was then that he had a life-changing encounter with Jesus.
Edwin Brit Wyckoff recorded in the book, The Man who Invented Basketball: James Naismith and His Amazing Game (Enslow Publishers, Inc, Berkeley Heights, NJ, 2008), that Naismith said:
“It was with a firm determination and a great sense of confidence that I was to enter the study for the ministry …”
He continued:
“For several years I had been wondering what I wanted to accomplish. Finally I decided that the only real satisfaction that I would ever derive from life was to help my fellow beings.”
Naismith added:
“I was lying on the bed on Sunday and thought, ‘What is this all about? What is life about? What are you going to do? What are you going to be?
What motto will you hold up before you?’ I put up on the wall, not in writing, but in my mind this thought: ‘I want to leave the world a little bit better than I found it.’ This is the motto I had then and it is the motto I have today.”
With the goal of becoming a minister, he entered McGill University in 1883, located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
There he studied Philosophy and Hebrew.
McGill included athletics as part of the college life.
It was at McGill that students organized the very first hockey club in 1877, and wrote the first hockey rule book.
Naismith graduated in 1887, and enrolled to study theology at a McGill-affiliated school, Presbyterian College.
To pay his tuition, he worked at McGill as an instructor in physical education.
At Presbyterian College, he was involved in religious activities, the Missionary Society, the Literary and Philosophical Society, and was a staff member of the Presbyterian College Journal.
He was an avid athlete.
In addition to gymnastics, he played baseball, field hockey, football, rugby and lacrosse – sometimes referred to as “legalized murder.”
Dr. Ed and Janice Hird wrote in “Dr. James Naismith: An Examination of the Global Impact of the Basketball Founder” (Engage Magazine, 7/2121, engage.lightmagazine.ca) how contact sports resulted in injuries, with Naismith getting a kick to the face, a concussion, temporary memory loss, and permanently swollen cauliflower ears.
As a result, he and his future wife, Maude Shermann, designed one of football’s earliest helmets.
He was counseled by some to leave the evils of the athletic life and only devote himself to studying and Christian duties.
A simple incident, though, gave James direction.
During a rugby game in his senior year in seminary, a teammate uttered profanity.
When he looked up and saw James, he embarrassingly apologized and said “I forgot you were there.”
James began to realize that by combining both athletics and religious ministry, he could use sports to help men build godly Christian character.
At the age of 29, he went came to the United States to work as the physical education teacher at the Young Men’s Christian Association department of the School for Christian Workers in Springfield, Massachusetts, renamed the YMCA International Training School.
The YMCA pioneered integrating prayer and Bible study with athletics. This was part of a 19th century movement known as “Muscular Christianity,” which led to the concept of “good sportsmanship.”
During the harsh New England winter of 1891, the class of young men were bored with calisthenics, sit-ups and marching, so Naismith was asked by Dr. Luther Gulick, Jr., to devise a game which could be played indoors.
Dr. Gulick, who designed the YMCA’s triangle logo—Spirit, Mind, & Body, also founded, with his wife, Charlotte “Lottie” Emily Vetter, the Camp Fire Girls.
Alluding to Book of Ecclesiastes, Dr. Gulick told Naismith: “There is nothing new under the sun. All so-called new things are simply re-combinations of the factors of things that are now in existence.”
James took the initiative, saying: “All that we have to do is to take the factors of our known games and then recombine them, and we will have the new game we are looking for.”
He also wanted a game that would result in fewer concussions and more sportsmanship.
On December 21, 1891, drawing upon a game he played as a boy called “Duck on a Rock,” he created a new game with the goal of lopping a soccer ball into peach basket.
Naismith described in a New York radio interview:
“Something had to be done. One day I had an idea. I called the boys to the gym and divided them into two teams of nine and gave them an old soccer ball.
I showed them two peach baskets I had nailed at each end of the gym, and I told them the idea was to throw the ball into the other team’s peach basket.”
Without rules, brawls would break out on the floor, so Naismith wrote the original 13 rules of basketball, which incorporated aspects of soccer, football and hockey.
With the players not running with the ball, there would be no injuring from tackling as in rugby or football. With the basket up high, there would be less harm near the goal as in hockey.
Michael Zogry, associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Kansas, stated:
“Naismith believed an umpire was essential in basketball … He said an umpire could enforce the rules and remind players how to behave … Naismith’s hand-written original 13 rules of basketball sold for $4.3 million in 2010. A KU alumnus, David Booth and his wife, Suzanne, purchased the rules as a gift to KU.”
Yale divinity student Amos Alonzo Stagg further developed basketball with five players.
He worked alongside James Naismith at the YMCA’s training center in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Stagg later pioneered coaching and innovations for the game of football.
Naismith’s director, Dr. Gulick, explained his strict standards for players’ behavior in an 1897 article:
“The game must be kept clean. It is a perfect outrage for an institution that stands for Christian work in the community to tolerate not merely ungentlemanly treatment of guests, but slugging and that which violates the elementary principles of morals …
Excuse for the rest of the year any player who is not clean in his play.”
Naismith was an advocate of racial equality, opposing segregation in all its forms.
He believed that good coaching would produce: “initiative, agility, accuracy, alertness, co-operation, skill, reflex judgement, speed, self-confidence, self-sacrifice, self-control, and sportsmanship.”
U of K Professor Michael Zogry, further explained Naismith’s approach to sports and faith:
“His approach was to put Christianity out there in front of people and try to influence them through positive character development, but he reserved his formal preaching for when he was a guest minister at area churches.”
For Naismith, basketball was not simply a game, but an evangelization tool.
Basketball became so popular, that two years later, in 1893, the YMCA began promoting it internationally.
Zogry added:
“YMCAs began to integrate the game into their mission trips and it is recorded that many young people were brought to Christ through these missionaries and the game of basketball.”
YMCA missionaries first took the game to Canada, then overseas to Japan, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and around the globe.
Christian missionaries brought basketball to China through the YMCA, it has become one of the nation’s most popular sports.
YMCA missionary T.D. Patton took basketball to India.
In 1894, Naismith married Maude, and together they had five children.
The next year they moved to Colorado, where James took the position as Physical Education director at the Denver YMCA.
When his brother, Robbie, died suddenly from an infection, James decided to become a doctor.
In 1898, Naismith obtained a medical degree from Gross Medical College, which was merged in 1912 with the University of Colorado Medical School.
He earned four doctorate degrees before the age of 35.
As a minister, coach and medical doctor, was a holistic missionary caring for the whole person–spirit, mind, and body.
Moving to Lawrence, Kansas, he was the assistant gymnasium director, campus chaplain, and basketball coach of the Jayhawks at the University of Kansas.
Professor Michael Zogry stated:
“Naismith arrived at KU in 1898 after he had earned a medical degree while employed by the Denver YMCA.
KU hired him to be the chapel director (daily prayer services were compulsory for students then), campus physician, physical education program director and, yes, the basketball coach …
In addition to basketball and physical fitness, Naismith nurtured the study of religion at KU. In 1921, he was among those founding the Kansas School of Religion just a few steps off the university campus.
The Kansas School of Religion was a forerunner of KU’s Department of Religious Studies.”
Professor Zogry wrote a another famous KU coach:
“Forrest Clare (Phog) Allen was not only known as the father of basketball coaching but is thought to have been Naismith’s student at KU.”
Basketball continued to grow in popularity, being demonstrated at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri.
During the early 1900s, some viewed sports a distraction of the devil.
Dr. Ed and Janice Hird wrote in “Dr. James Naismith: An Examination of the Global Impact of the Basketball Founder” that his sister, Annie, was disappointed James chose sports ministry instead of being the pastor of a congregation.
Naismith wrote:
“A few years ago, on a visit to my only sister I asked her if she had ever forgiven me for leaving the ministry. She looked seriously at me, shook her head, and said, ‘No Jim, you put your hand to the plow and then turned back.’ As long as she lived, she never witnessed a basketball game, and I believe that she was a little ashamed to think that I had been the originator of the game.”
Naismith saw sports a platform to build Christian character, instill good sportsmanship, to love your neighbor, to play by the Golden Rule.
He said he “could best serve God by influencing young men’s characters, being convinced that, “he could better exemplify the Christian life through sports than in the pulpit.”
Naismith wrote:
“Self-control, the subordination of one’s feelings for a purpose. The player who permits his feelings to interfere with his reflexes is not only a hindrance to his team, but he is also occupying a place that might better be filled by another.”
He believed sports provided an opportunity to develop strength to stand in faith to fight life’s battles, strength to live a fulfilled live in accordance with the Bible, and strength to serve others, developing:
“… a willingness to place the good of the team above one’s personal ambitions … playing the game vigorously, observing the rules definitely, accepting defeat gracefully, and winning courteously.”
He added:
“I may say in conclusion: Let us all be able to lose gracefully and to win courteously; to accept criticism as well as praise; and last of all, to appreciate the attitude of the other fellow at all times.”
Naismith explained: “There is no place in basketball for the egotist.”
In 1911, Naismith published the book, A Modern College.
When World War I started in 1914, he volunteered at the age of 54.
Being a Canadian, he was able to get official ordination credentials from the Presbyterian Church and be appointed by the governor as an honorary captain and the chaplain of the nascent First Kansas Infantry.
In 1916, he was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, where two years later the Spanish Flu appeared of debated origins.
His unit was transferred to Eagle Pass, Texas, where soldiers served as guards during the Mexican Border War with Pancho Villa.
James Patton wrote in “Remembering a Veteran: Dr. James Naismith, YMCA” (Roads to the Great War, April 2, 2018):
“Naismith took his calling as the chaplain very seriously, approaching the task just like coaching a team of his young players, encouraging them to realize their potential.
He conducted church services, counseled soldiers, and advised his CO as to the spiritual needs of the unit. He was particularly concerned with efforts to keep the troops away from prostitutes, gambling, alcohol, and brawls with the locals.
To this end, and to keep them busy and physically fit, he organized basketball games, baseball games, and boxing matches involving the entire garrison at Eagle Pass.”
Patton explained Naismith emphasis on Biblical morality:
“In June 1917 Naismith was accepted as a lecturer on ‘moral conditions and sex education.’ His job was training counselors, inspiring troops and developing programs to improve morale and morality. His experience in this work formed a large part of the material for his book, Essence of a Healthy Life, 1918.
In the fall of 1918, he was sent to France as a YMCA Overseas Secretary, where his work continued as before but now in the shadow of the front. He wrote of this time, ‘I feel that I’m fitted for this work.’ With his breadth of experience, probably no one was a better choice.”
James Patton recorded a statement Naismith wrote in France:
“It is a pretty big job … go over and make the camps clean places for the boys to fight. And also get the right spirit into the men.
That involves two things. Educate the men and eliminate the evils from the camps and vicinity. Pershing is very anxious to have this done.
I go without instructions to find out the best thing to do and then get the machinery working. It is no child’s play, especially when it is among the old-fashioned type of soldier and in France where ideals are so different.
The responsibility is great but I am going into it determined. I do wish that you and the family would pray for me, for I have never felt so much in need of help as I do at this present minute.”
Of his 19 months with the YMCA in France, Naismith said he was thankful for “the knowledge that I have tried to help the people of the world to make it a little better, and that I have tried to love my neighbor as myself.”
Returning stateside as a 57-year-old war veteran, he resumed his position as director of physical education at the University of Kansas.
In 1925, he officially became an American citizen.
In 1936, three years before his death, he saw basketball recognized as an official event at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin.
Though he shunned publicity, he accepted the invitation to throw the first jump ball at the opening ceremony.
Afterwards, he was chosen to hand out the medals: U.S won gold; Canada won silver; and Mexico won bronze.
In 1937, he helped form the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball, renamed National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
In 1939, just eight months after the birth of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Basketball Championship, Dr. James Naismith died at the age of 78.
He had challenged the NCAA to “use every means to put basketball (as) a factor in the molding of character.”
One of his players remembered: “With him, questions of physical development inevitably led to questions of moral development, and vice versa.”
The Journal of Health and Physical Education praised Naismith as “a physician who encouraged healthful living through participation through vigorous activities” building “character in the hearts of young men.”
Basketball grew to be one of the biggest sports in North America, with 24 million participating in 2009 according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and played by over 450 million worldwide. Only soccer is more popular.
In 2015 “March Madness” attracted 80.7 million people worldwide who watched the tournament online.
Unlike athletes today, Naismith did not profit from inventing basketball. He even lost two houses to foreclosure.
Jayson Jenks wrote in “The Rules of the Game: Bill Self, Kansas, and basketball history” (March 22, 2012):
“Naismith never cashed in on his creation. He had offers to do commercials and advertisement campaigns, but except for lending his name as endorsement for a Rawlings basketball, he declined.”
Naismith stayed committed to his mission, which was “to win men for the Master (Jesus) through the gym.”
Tuskegee professor George W. Carver wrote to YMCA official Jack Boyd in Denver, March 1, 1927:
“Keep your hand in that of the Master, walk daily by His side, so that you may lead others into the realms of true happiness, where a religion of hate, (which poisons both body and soul) will be unknown, having in its place the ‘Golden Rule’ way, which is the ‘Jesus Way’ of life, will reign supreme.”
Naismith stated:
“I am sure that no man can derive more satisfaction from money or power than I do from seeing a pair of basketball goals in some out of the way place. Deep in the Wisconsin woods … High in the Colorado mountains … halfway across the desert … all are constant reminders that I have at least partially accomplished the objective that I set up.”
Basketball nets adorn garages, walls, barns, schools and YMCAs in communities across the globe. It was the first game to requiring gymnasium’s to have high ceilings.
Naismith wrote:
“Whenever I witness games in a church league, I feel that my vision, almost half a century ago, of the time when the Christian people would recognize the true value of athletics, has become a reality.”
Two years after his death, Naismith’s book, Basketball—its Origins and Development, was published in 1941.
Jon Ackerman wrote in the article “Upward Sports is carrying out the vision of the late Dr. James Naismith” (Sports Spectrum Magazine, Winter 2017):
“Dr. James Naismith invented basketball as a way to reach young people for Jesus. That same vision is fueling Upward Sports, the world’s largest Christian youth sports organization …
James Pomeroy Naismith, now 81, is the last living grandson of Dr. Naismith. He was 3 when his famous grandfather passed away …
Speaking of his grandfather, ‘He could see a potential for an outreach, a Christian outreach to young people using competitive sports, and it is perfectly clear that he himself loved competitive sports … If you can take something you love and apply it not only to your life, but through outreach to give others a better life, now that’s a really good vision.”
Naismith is honored in eight Canadian and American Halls of Fame. He is featured on postage stamps in both Canada and the United States.
The U.S. Census Bureau statistics (2009) report that over 24 million Americans play BASKETBALL.
In 1892, William Morgan came to study at the International Young Men’s Christian Association Training School — Springfield College.
There he met Naismith.
William Morgan then became physical education director at the YMCA in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
It was there that Morgan invented the game of VOLLEYBALL in 1895.
Morgan wrote the original rules for volleyball and had them printed in the first edition of the Official Handbook of the Athletic League of the Young Men’s Christian Associations of North America (1897).
He needed a ball that was lighter than a basketball, so he asked A.G. Spalding & Bros. of Chicopee, Massachusetts to design one.
Volleyball spread to other countries around the world.
In 1916, the rules of volleyball at the YMCA were shared with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
In 1922, the first official national tournament in the U.S. was held by the National YMCA Physical Education Committee in New York City.
The United States Volleyball Association (USVBA) formed in 1928.
Renamed USA Volleyball (USAV), it organizes major volleyball tournaments nationwide.
The U.S. Census Bureau statistics (2009) report that over 10 million Americans play VOLLEYBALL.
KU Professor Michael Zogry stated:
“Naismith’s goals in life, as he stated on his application to the International YMCA Training School, were to try to help ‘win men for the Master,’ to build character and to be an example for the men.”
Zogry added:
“The story of Naismith’s creation of the game is widely known … Less well-known is that his game also was meant to help build Christian character and to inculcate certain values of the muscular Christian movement.”
Edwin Brit Wyckoff described how Naismith, along with Theodore Roosevelt, was an admirer of British author Thomas Hughes’ popular book, Tom Brown’s Schooldays, 1857:
“Muscular Christianity is Christianity applied to the treatment and use of our bodies. It is an enforcement of the laws of health by the solemn sanctions of the New Testament.”
Camp Constitution held their 3rd annual family retreat up at Camp Sentinel in Tuftonboro, NH this past weekend and it was chock full of information, encouragement, and activities!
Friday evening, Reverend Steven Craft gave a presentation on Race Worship. He likened the race debate to the “Golden Calf of the 21st Century”, encouraging attendees to be modern day Davids up against a Goliath of racialized ideology. While some have weaponized race, we must remember that Jesus shed his blood for ALL of us, which makes us equal in the eyes of God. Kin folk, not “skin” folk!
We also had a Constitution 101 presentation by Camp Constitution Co-Founder, Hal Shurtleff! He recommended watching “A More Perfect Union” and reading “Christianity and the Constitution” by John Eidsmoe as well as The Federalist Papers. He reminded us that the amendments in the Bill of Rights PROTECT our rights – not grant them.
Saturday was a full day of activities and crafts for the kids, and speeches for the adults in the morning, starting with Michael King of Massachusetts Family Institution. He shared some concerning slides and papers put out in schools, like the ‘Genderbread Person’ for elementary/middle schoolers, ‘Gender Unicorn’ for kids as young as 4, and the Trever Project for teens; since they have begun making things like this widely known, they have managed to make Sex Ed an opt-in program and more than 7000 children have chosen to skip those classes, making it a home education topic instead. They have in fact had many victories regarding this topic and others in schools, have several National partners, and are paving the way in church-based education alternatives in MA!
Michael King of the Mass Family Institute Junior Campers taught by Mrs. Jessica Whitworth
We also got to hear some information and watch some videos from the Chandler family about the Trail Life USA and American Heritage Girls programs. They operate for boys and girls, respectively, from ages 5 to 18+ and are a Christ-based alternative to Scouts. They are both Nationwide programs that can be joined here in New England, or parents can sign up to lead a new chapter if there isn’t one nearby.
After lunch there was a break with options to do recreational activities, go apple picking or shopping, or even visit the WW2 Museum in Wolfeboro. Our family opted into the WW2 Museum which had a few interactive exhibits for the kids, a huge number of artifacts, and a great hall of ages where you got an in-depth look at the years from 1939 to 1945. It ended with an up-close look at tanks and other military vehicles from the time. Though the word “democracy” was thrown around a little too often for my taste, it was definitely a worthwhile visit – make sure to check out their used book rack in the gift shop for some hidden treasures!
The film “Monumental” was being shown when we returned to camp – a great watch for the whole family! Camp Sentinel, where this retreat was held, was very accommodating with a warm fire all day, comfortable couches, and plenty of drinks and snacks!
The evening rounded off with Representative Paul Terry sharing how to Influence Elected Officials. He provided a packet of information to each attendee full of great information, tips, and action item checklists! One of the main points made was how blessed we are to live in NH where we have the largest number of representatives in the Nation! Each member of the House only has about 2,200 citizens they represent, which makes them incredibly accessible. Those of us who wish to see change need to take advantage of this fact – not just when we want something, but also to thank them or even just get to know them. A link to Rev. Terry’s presentation: https://youtu.be/rPXu954Q9So?si=sPY6Lc-qi7TOx8DA
NH State Rep Rev. Paul Terry
Rounding off the evening, Jack McCarthy, a representative for Tactical Civics spoke about the organization. They believe that the solution to the problems we are facing today include establishing County Grand Juries and Constitutional Militias. He also noted that learning your state constitution is just as (if not more) important as learning your US constitution.
Each morning of the retreat started with a flag raising ceremony overlooking the mountains, and every evening ended with a campfire accompanied by singing, poetry, readings, skits, and music. There were also a few tables available all weekend full of the different organizations’ information, sign-ups, books, and more.
Sunday consisted of worship led by Rev. Craft. After some singing, the children were led out for more crafts as the sermon began. This all centered somewhat around the race debate, but also dove into the division we bring on ourselves in politics and religion. Why do we focus on denominations, when we are all brothers and sisters of Christ, seeking Him in all things? We need to unify and strengthen ourselves in this fight between good and evil – because that is truly what we are facing now.
Finally, Hal spoke about his most recent book, “The Racists Roots of Planned Parenthood And Its Legacy of Death”. Did YOU know that over $500 Million in federal funds goes to Planned Parenthood? Or that Martin Luther King Junior was the first recipient of the Margaret Sanger award? Have you ever heard Sanger’s quote that seeing shrieking children in schoolyards made her feel her mission had failed? Did you know that one of Margaret Sangers collaborators was none other than Ernst Rudin, president of the International Federation of Eugenics organizations and later, Nazi director of sterilization and founder of the Nazi Society for Racial Hygiene? If you answered “no” to any of these questions, I highly suggest you purchase his book ASAP.
It was a wonderful weekend full of education, building connections, sharing God’s word, and having new experiences as a family. It’s also a great opportunity to support a good cause and check out the awesome library available through Camp Constitution. Check out their website (campconstitution.net) for more resources, and to learn how to sign up for the next Camp Constitution event!
Albania is a nation that was once shrouded in darkness but is now experiencing a vibrant evangelical movement. Formerly declared the first atheist state in the world under its communist regime, its journey to spiritual freedom is nothing short of miraculous.
A Nation in Need of the Gospel
Albania, a small Balkan country, was closed off to other religions for decades. Under the rule of communist dictator Enver Hoxha, churches and mosques were destroyed, and religious expression—other than the state religion of Secular Humanism espoused by the communists—was criminalized.
By 1967, Albania had become the only country in the world to officially declare itself atheist, with brutal persecution for anyone found practicing religion. This left the Albanian people spiritually destitute for nearly half a century.
However, with the fall of communism in 1991, doors were opened—both literally and spiritually.
Christian missionaries and organizations began to flood into the country, bringing the light of the gospel to a land that had long been without hope. Biblical Christianity took root, and the transformation has been nothing short of remarkable.
The Christian Church Emerges
In the years following the collapse of the communist regime, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God began to impact Albania. Today, Christians are a growing percentage of the population.
Though still a minority, these believers are full of passion for sharing the gospel. With a strong focus on church planting, discipleship, and community outreach, churches are making an impact in every corner of Albania.
Many Albanians who have come to faith testify to the profound impact Jesus Christ has had on their lives, freeing them from bondage to addiction, hopelessness, and despair.
This is particularly evident among the youth, who are turning to Christ in large numbers, despite the lingering effects of atheism and secularism.
The daughter of an Albanian mafia boss has come to faith in Christ. I hope to share her dynamic testimony with you in a future newsletter.
Missionaries: Catalysts for Reformation
Missionaries from around the world have played a crucial role in Albania’s spiritual revival. From the early days of post-communism to the present, faithful men and women of God have poured into the country, proclaiming the gospel and partnering with local believers to build the Church.
They have planted local congregations, established Christian schools, and launched numerous ministry projects to meet the physical needs of Albanians, showing the love of Christ in practical ways.
Anya and her missionary colleagues have joined an educational program that runs parallel to the academic year. Children come after school to do their homework, enjoy English classes, receive computer training, and participate in other activities designed to bring the Gospel’s influence into their lives.
This ministry was started by a pastor’s wife after her husband was murdered at their church in a counterattack due to a blood feud.
Discipling the Nation
Beyond spiritual growth, evangelical churches in Albania are addressing pressing social issues. Poverty, unemployment, and human trafficking are serious challenges in the country, and Christians have responded by setting up ministries that offer hope and help.
Through food distribution programs, job training, and rehabilitation for victims of trafficking, the Church is making a tangible difference in people’s lives.
Christians are also working to promote unity and reconciliation in a nation divided by decades of political turmoil and mistrust. In a country with a long history of ethnic and religious tensions, the gospel message of peace and reconciliation in Christ is a powerful force for healing.
A Bright Future for Albania
Although challenges remain, the future of Biblical Christianity in Albania is bright. Churches are growing, and many are being led by young, passionate Albanian believers. Local leaders are stepping up, with a strong emphasis on discipleship and equipping the next generation of pastors, evangelists, and missionaries.
The gospel continues to spread, and there is great hope that Albania will one day be known not for its atheism, but for its vibrant Christian faith.
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” — Habakkuk 2:14
Let us continue to pray for Albania. Pray for the Church to grow in strength and number, for the boldness of believers to proclaim the gospel, and for the hearts of the Albanian people to be softened to the message of Christ.
As we support Anya and her missionary friends ministering in Albania, we can take part in the transformation of a nation moving from darkness to light.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes …” — Romans 1:16
Charl van Wyk
P.S. A very big thank you to our wonderful ministry partners who have prayed for and supported Anya. Here’s the link for financial support: https://intouchmission.org/donate-to/charl-van-wyk/ – please add “Anya” in the notes!
For about 50 years, the government of Massachusetts has been unlawfully
prosecuting and incarcerating otherwise innocent people for exercising our right to
keep and bear Arms, under the color of “licensing authorities,” who “impose
occupational fees or licensing requirements on a profession,” see MGL 6 § 172N.
The state’s “license to carry firearms,” like any other professional license, is
a requirement administered and enforced by the executive branch, specifically the
Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS). The EOPSS regulates
persons who carry on businesses as gunsmiths or gun dealers, and those who carry
firearms “in the performance of their duties,” such as security guards, private
detectives, and auxiliary or volunteer police. However, there is no such thing as a
“license to bear arms” for personal use.
By prosecuting people exercising a constitutionally secured private right as
if it were a public entitlement, the Massachusetts government violates the public
rights doctrine, the major questions doctrine, the separation of powers doctrine, the
state’s Administrative Procedure Act, the Declaratory Judgment Act, and multiple
constitutional prohibitions and due process guarantees. This seriously undermines
judicial independence and deprives the courts of subject matter jurisdiction, as
fully explained in the amicus curiae briefs filed by Six New Hampshire State
Representatives in the cases of Commonwealth v. Dean F. Donnell and Philip J.
Marquis:
The City of Nashua reserves a “Citizen Flag Pole” in front of city hall for people “to fly a flag in support of cultural heritage, [to] observe an anniversary, honor a special accomplishment, or support a worthy cause.”
Unless city leaders dislike the message. According to the city’s written flag policy, only speech which Nashua “wishes to express and endorse”—speech that is “in harmony with city policies and message” and in “the City’s best interest”—is allowed. Thus, while officials have allowed Nashua residents to fly flags celebrating causes such as Indian Independence Day, Lutheranism, Pride Month, organ donation, and women’s suffrage on the “Citizen Flag Pole,” they have forbidden Bethany Scaer from commemorating the 249th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill by raising the Pine Tree Flag, a traditional patriotic flag flown by New England troops during the American Revolution.
Likewise, officials have denied Beth’s husband, Stephen Scaer, permission to raise a Detransitioner Awareness Flag to observe Detrans Awareness Day (March 12). Stephen1 wishes to support gender detransitioners and call attention to the threats, ridicule, discrimination, and medical expenses that they often suffer, but city officials apparently do not want him to be allowed to express support for detransitioners. Nashua’s flag policy is unconstitutionally vague and overbroad, and it imposes an arbitrary prior restraint on use of the Citizen Flag Pole. The First Amendment does not allow municipalities to turn the government speech doctrine into a cover for favoring some private speakers and censoring others. Such viewpoint discrimination is anathema to the constitution. Plaintiffs Beth and Stephen Scaer are entitled to relief securing their fundamental right of free speech.
As we’ve written repeatedly, Hal Shurtleffs’ 9-0 free speech victory at the US Supreme Court in the Boston City flagpole case made it clear that Nashua would get sued for the same reason sooner or later. Despite that ruling, Mayor Donchess and company responded as they do to any challenge by assuming no one would ever invest the time and treasure to challenge them—and besides, it’s not their money if they lose.
Steve is a long-time New Hampshire resident, blogger, and a member of the Board of directors of The 603 Alliance. He is the owner of Grok Media LLC and the Managing Editor of GraniteGrok.com, a former board member of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, and a past contributor to the Franklin Center for Public Policy.
