Happy Birthday U.S. Constitution
Today, Wednesday September 17 marks the 238th anniversary of the end of the Constitutional Convention which created what Daniel Webster said was the “works of the purest patriots and wisest statemen that ever existed.” He, of course, was referring to the U.S. Constitution. Sadly, far too many Americans know little to nothing about the Constitution.
Here is a condensed version of a recent encounter I had to reenforce my statement:
On Saturday August 16, we-Camp Constitution-had an information table at Londonderry’s Old Town Day celebration. A woman in her mid-sixties came by the table expressing her initial approval of our presence. She was critical of Trump’s tariffs and told me that his tariffs “were not constitutional.” I agreed saying that under Section 1, Article 8 of the U.S. Constitution, Congress has the power to impose tariffs. The specific wording:
“The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises to pay the debts…” Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 1.”
I told her that while I approved of tariffs in general, Trump should have received the approval of Congress. At this point she was still an ally. I then explained that the New Deal Democrats in Congress unconstitutionally gave some power to levy tariffs to Franklin Roosevelt. It was called the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934. Congress passed two more bills in 1962 and 1974 granting even more power to the President. All three bills were passed in Democrat controlled Congresses.
The lady didn’t like to hear that Democrats were the ones that enabled Trump. Her pleasant countenance changed from friendly to confrontational. She asked me who I thought were Constitutionalist in Congress. “There are not very many” I replied, “Thomas Massie in the House, and Rand Paul in the Senate are two that come to mind” They both score 90% and above on the Freedom Index while Chris Pappas is a dismal 5%. https://thenewamerican.com/freedom-index/
`
She told me that she supports Chris Pappas. “You denounce Trump for his unconstitutional tariffs but support Pappas who almost always violates his oath of office,” I responded. “I am very angry,” was her reply and she left in a huff. She is typical of far too many voters in New Hampshire, and the U.S. They know nothing about the U.S. Constitution. They only regurgitate talking points from the Democrat Party and their allies in the corporate media. At least Trump used laws passed by Democrats to justify his tariffs with the intent of it protecting the American worker-something that both major parties failed to do over the past fifty years.
A week earlier, we had a float in Alton’s Old Home Week Parade as we have for the past five years where we pass out pocket copies of the U.S. Constitution to spectators. The local Democrat Party also had a float and, to our surprise, also passed out pocket copies of the U.S. Constitution. What was even more surprising was that they were passing out copies obtained from the National Center for Constitution Studies (NCCS)-the same ones that we use.
While I doubt that anyone will be denouncing the local Democrats as Christian Nationalists, and members of a far-right fringe group, the Democrats should have consulted with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) before passing them out. The SPLC considers the NCCS as far right. By the way, the SPLC has us listed on their Hate Map as an anti-government organization but in the wrong state: https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map/?hm_year=2024&hm_state=NC
Here are some quotes contained in that version that we and the Democrats passed out:
“[The adoption of the Constitution] will demonstrate as visibly the finger of Province as any possible event in the course of human affairs can ever designate it.”
George Washington
“I regard it [the Constitution] as the work of the purest patriots and wisest statesmen that ever existed aided by the smiles of a benignant Providence…; it almost appears a Divine interposition in our behalf.”
Daniel Webster
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
John Adams
“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of master.”
Benjamin Franklin
Let’s honor the memory of those 38 delegates who signed the U.S. Constitution not by paying lip service to them, but by learning about the document they blessed us with and then ensuring that we hold our elected officials at all levels accountable to their oath that they took to defend it.
Today, there are many organizations that offer instruction on the Constitution which include:
The National Center for Constitutional Studies https://nccs.net/
The Institute on the Constitution Institute on the Constitution | Online Constitution Classes
Hillsdale College https://online.hillsdale.edu/courses
And Camp Constitution https://campconstitution.net
Readers who would like a free pocket copy of the Constitution can E-mail me at campconstitution1@gmail.com
Happy Birthday U.S. Constitution
“Proof of the Illuminati” written by New Hampshire Minister Rev. Seth Payson of Rindge
Over ten years ago,
we
took
a
field
trip
to
the
Rindge
Historical
Society.
The
museum’s
collection
includes
a
military
discharge
signed
by
General
George
Washington,
a
musket
from
a
veteran
of
the
French
and
Indian
War,
and
the
carriage
owned
by
Dr.
William
Dean
of
nearly
Jaffrey,
NH,
whose
murder
in
1918
remains
an
unresolved
mystery.
Before
leaving
this
historic
gem,
we
visited
the
museum’s
bookstore
and
found
reprinted
copies
of
Proof
of
the
Illuminati
by
Rev.
Seth
Payson.
I
asked
the
museum’s
director
why
this
book
would
be
offered
by
the
museum.
She
told
me
that
the
author
was
pastor
of
the
Rindge
Congregational
Church
from
1782
until
his
death
in
1820.
I
bought
a
copy
and
read
this
fascinating
account
of
the
Illuminati.
Camp
Constitution
Press
is
pleased
to
reprint
this
timeless
but
little
known
classic.
From the Foreword:
This work, Proof of the Illuminati, was first published in 1802 under the longer title Proofs of
the Real Existence, and Dangerous Tendency, of Illuminism. It was printed in Charlestown,
Massachusetts by Samuel Etheridge for the author, Seth Payson. Reverend Seth Payson, D. D.
was born in 1758 and died in 1820. He, like his father, Rev. Phillips Payson, and several of his
brothers, became a Congregational preacher. After graduating from Harvard, he was appointed
as the minister of the Congregational church in Rindge, New Hampshire in 1782, and held this
post for the rest of his life. At least one of his sons also followed him into the ministry. Payson
was very active in establishing new churches for communities in northern New England,
including the church in Coventry, Vermont. He was the author of numerous sermons, several of
which were published and had a modest distribution. Additionally, Payson helped educate and
provide for Sophia Sawyer, a woman who would later become famous for establishing the
Fayetteville Female Academy. Rev. Payson served in the New Hampshire State senate from
1802-1805. He was a staunch Federalist supporter. Along with its alarming message regarding
both religion and state, Proof of the Illuminati was also a part of Payson’s campaign platform
A link to a free PDF version of the book:
And, a link to purchase the book from our on-line shop:
https://campconstitution.net/product/59283/
Back in 2012, we took a role in helping to defeat Agenda 21 in the Town of Rindge. Some Leftists in town were not happy with us. One such person was a direct descendent of Rev. Payson. This person was a town official. We pointed out to her that we were simply picking up where her worthy ancestor left off. She had no clue that her ancestor authored a book like this.
Camp Constitution Report Interviews Pastor Jackson Lahmeyer of the White House Faith Counsel
PHal Shurtleff, host of the Camp Constitution Report, interviews Pastor Jackson Lahmeyer of the White House Faith Counsel. Jackson Lahmeyer serves as the Lead Pastor of the historic Sheridan Christian Center in Tulsa, OK – now known as Sheridan Church. He is the founder of Pastors For Trump. Jackson and his wife, Kendra, have five children and reside in Owasso, Oklahoma. Lahmeyer attended Oral Roberts University (ORU) and received a B.A. & M.A. in Theological & Historical Studies, graduating Magna Cum Laude. Lahmeyer was then appointed to serve as the Crusade Director traveling the United States for Christ for All Nations, the ministry of Reinhard Bonnke that has helped lead 74,000,000 people to Christ since 1974. While serving as the Crusade Director, Lahmeyer served as the Oklahoma State Coordinator for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association leading more than 300 churches across Oklahoma’s 77 counties to get engaged and fight for conservative values.
In 2021-2022, Lahmeyer was a candidate for the United States Senate in Oklahoma. He was endorsed by Mayor Rudy Giuliani, General Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, Sebastian Gorka, Mike Lindell and other America First leaders. He is the author of Chasing After the Wind.
The Bucks of America Flag: The First Black Military Unit in U.S. History
In this short video, Hal Shurtleff of Camp Constitution discusses the Bucks of America flag. The original flag, which John Hancock and his son presented to the unit, is on display at the African American Museum in Washington, D.C.
To order this book: Ten Years Ago the Obergefell Opinion Put Kim Davis in Jail
The Following is a news release from Liberty Counsel www/lc.org
Aug 29, 2025
After Davis did not receive the accommodation, a federal judge remanded her to the Carter County Detention Center on September 3, 2015, where she remained for six days. While she was in prison, a deputy clerk removed Davis’ name from the marriage licenses and issued them to three sets of same-sex plaintiffs who filed suit against the Clerk of Rowan County. One set of plaintiffs ended their litigation. But two sets of plaintiffs wanted the name of Kim Davis on their licenses.
Returning to court, they asked Judge David Bunning to hold Davis in contempt, but Gov. Beshear, who refused her original request, responded by saying the licenses were valid without her name. Thus, Davis essentially received the accommodation she sought, and the plaintiffs received the licenses – without her name.
In December 2015, after being sworn in, Gov. Matt Bevin issued a detailed Executive Order granting an accommodation to Davis and all Kentucky clerks to remove their names from the licenses. Then in April 2016, the Kentucky legislature unanimously passed a law removing the names of clerks from marriage licenses. The case should have ended, but two sets of plaintiffs, including David Ermold and David Moore, wanted to mock Davis’ Christian faith.
Ermold and Moore have spent the last 10 years viciously attacking Kim Davis. The two Davids told GQ magazine in December 2015, they had never even discussed getting married before rushing to join the melee outside Davis’ office as she waited for an answer to her religious accommodation request.
They traveled to her office day after day to record themselves harassing her and posting the videos to social media. They bragged to GQ about how their videos made them internet famous. And when their moment of initial fame ended, the men embarked on a targeted campaign to keep themselves in the spotlight by inventing new ways to try to destroy Davis.
They tried to sue to force Davis to put her name on their marriage certificate.
When they failed to win that legal fight, Ermold tried to take Davis’ job by running against her for the Rowan County Clerk position. Davis even helped Ermold complete the paperwork to run against her. Ermold lost in the primary race to another candidate, and their “fame” faded again.
Ironically, even after trying to take Davis’ job, Ermold claimed in court that she had cost him his job. But when Liberty Counsel called his former employer to the stand during trial in 2023, the whole world learned that Ermold’s claim was absolutely untrue.
So, the two Davids changed direction, asking for damages because Davis’ decision to use her lawful religious freedom rights had caused the men “hurt feelings.” Emotional distress, they claimed. No lost wages. No medical treatment. No counseling. Just “hurt” feelings.
Even though the law forbids financial damages over “hurt feelings” with no objective damages when the alleged distress arises because of speech on an issue of public importance, Davis now has a $360,000-dollar judgment hanging over her head.
On July 24, 2025, Liberty Counsel filed a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court requesting the Court to take up her case. The petition presents two issues – that the First Amendment is an absolute defense and Obergefell should be overturned. Four Justices are needed to accept review and five are required for a majority opinion. Chief Justice John Roberts so opposed the Obergefell majority opinion that he read his dissent from the bench – the only time he has done so since joining the High Court. When Justices read their dissent from the bench, it is to emphasize the intensity of that dissent.
“Five lawyers have closed the debate and enacted their own vision of marriage as a matter of constitutional law,” wrote Chief Justice Roberts. “The majority’s decision is an act of will, not legal judgment. The right it announces has no basis in the Constitution or this Court’s precedent.”
Justice Clarence Thomas, who also dissented, noted there would be inevitable conflict between this invented right and religious liberty.
“In our society, marriage is not simply a governmental institution; it is a religious institution as well,” wrote Justice Thomas. “Today’s decision might change the former, but it cannot change the latter. It appears all but inevitable that the two will come into conflict, particularly as individuals and churches are confronted with demands to participate in and endorse civil marriages between same-sex couples.”
As Justice Thomas predicted, conflict arose as Davis stands today as the first victim jailed, sued, and held personally liable post-Obergefell for her sincerely held religious beliefs on marriage. By taking the case, SCOTUS can do two things – affirm religious freedom for all people and also correct the Obergefell mistake by overruling the 2015 opinion. SCOTUS can return the religious and governmental institution of marriage back to the states.
The urgency of this case is even more evident. On August 26, 2025, Ermold and Moore filed a notice in federal district court to begin exploring Davis’ personal assets to see what they can collect to satisfy the judgment. In light of this vindictive development, the High Court should take this case and render justice where justice is due.
The response by Ermold and Moore to Liberty Counsel’s petition is due by October 8, and thus the Justices will be ready to conference the case by the third week of October, at which time they could decide to take up this critically important case.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “David Ermold and David Moore’s decade-long vindictive campaign has sought to personally punish Kim Davis for refusing to violate her faith.The plaintiffs created a shame case by intentionally targeting Davis to get a license with her name to mock her Christian faith. If a Christian can be personally sued, jailed, and held liable for their religious freedom and belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, then America’s religious freedom is meaningless. Obergefell was wrongly decided and the Supreme Court should overturn it and return the issue of marriage back to the states.”
Liberty Counsel provides broadcast quality TV interviews via Hi-Def Skype and LTN at no cost.
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American Minute with Bill Federer Evolution’s Inherent racism defended by Clarence Darrow: The Monkey Trial & William Jennings Bryan
Clarence Darrow was the attorney who defended
EVOLUTION.
Darrow had previously defended Leopold and
Loeb, the teenage homosexual thrill killers who
murdered 14-year-old Robert “Bobby” Franks in
1924 just for the excitement.
Darrow obtained a pardon for antifa-type anarchists
in 1886 who blew up a pipe bomb in Chicago’s
Haymarket, Square, killing 7 policemen and injured
60 others.
A Haymarket Statue was dedicated to the fallen
policemen.
The policemen’s Haymarket Statue was blown up
by the socialist anarchist group Weather
Underground on October 6, 1969, prior to the
“Days of Rage” protests.
The statue was rebuilt, but the Weather
Underground blew it up again on October 6, 1970.
The Weather Underground’s leaders had a lasting
effect, as two of them, Bill Ayers and Bernadine
Dohrn, hosted a meeting in 1995 to launch Barack
Obama’s Illinois State Senate Campaign; and
another, Eric Mann, trained Patrisse Cullors, a
founder of Black Lives Matter.
Clarence Darrow defended the “mentally deranged
drifter” Patrick Eugene Prendergast in 1894 who
confessed to murdering Chicago mayor Carter H.
Harrison, Sr.
Darrow defended socialist organizer Eugene V.
Debs, who was prosecuted for instigating the
Pullman Railroad Strike which caused 30 deaths,
57 wounded, and $80 million in property damages
in 27 states.
Debs founded the Socialist Party of America,
which branched off the Communist Party USA in
1919.
Clarence Darrow represented the Western
Federation of Miners leaders charged with the 1905
murder of former Idaho Gov. Frank
Steunenberg.
In 1911, the American Federation of Labor arranged
for Darrow to defend the McNamara brothers.
The McNamara brothers were charged with
dynamiting the Los Angeles Times building which
killed 21 employees.
Implicated in bribing jurors, Darrow was banned
from practicing law in California.
In 1925, Darrow unsuccessfully
defended John Scopes, a
Tennessee high school
biology teacher who taught the
theory of origins called
“evolution.”
The attorney defending CREATION was the
Democrat Party’s three time candidate for
President, William Jennings Bryan.
Bryan objected to a tooth being presented as proof
of humans evolving from apes.
Later the tooth was found to be that of an extinct
peccary (pig).
William Jennings Bryan won the Scopes case on
JULY 21, 1925.
Though Darrow lost the trial, a
pro-evolution propaganda film
was produced in 1960 titled
Inherit the Wind.
Professor Alan M. Dershowitz wrote on “The
Scopes Trial” in his book America on Trial: Inside
the Legal Battles that Transformed Our Nation
(eBook Edition: May 2004):
“The popular perception of what transpired in the
courtroom comes not from the transcript of the
court proceeding itself, but rather from the
motion picture … Inherit the Wind.
The William Jennings Bryan character, Scopes’s
prosecutor, was a burlesque of know-nothing
religious literalism …
… The actual William Jennings Bryan was no
simple-minded literalist, and he certainly was no
bigot.
He was a great populist who cared deeply about
equality and about the downtrodden.
Indeed, one of his reasons for becoming so deeply
involved in the campaign against evolution was
that Darwin’s theories were being used
misused, it turns out – by racists, militarists, and
nationalists to further some pretty horrible
programs …”
Dershowitz continued:
“The eugenics movement, which advocated
sterilization of ‘unfit’ and ‘inferior’ stock, was at
its zenith, and it took its impetus from Darwin’s
theory of natural selection.
German militarism, which had just led to the
disastrous world war, drew inspiration from
Darwin’s ideas on survival of the fittest.
The anti-immigration movement, which had
succeeded in closing American ports of entry to
‘inferior racial stock,’ was grounded in a mistaken
belief that certain ethnic groups had evolved
more fully than others …
… The Jim Crow laws, which maintained racial
segregation, were rationalized on grounds of the
racial inferiority of blacks.
… Indeed, the very book – Hunter’s Civic Biology
from which John T. Scopes taught Darwin’s
theory of evolution to high school students in
Dayton, Tennessee, contained dangerous
misapplications of that theory …”
Dershowitz added:
“Indeed, its very title, Civic Biology, made it clear
that biology had direct political implications for civic
society.
In discussing the ‘five races’ of man, the text
assured the all-white, legally segregated high
school students taught by Scopes that ‘the
highest type of all, the Caucasians, (are)
represented by the civilized white inhabitants of
Europe and America.’
The book, the avowed goal of which was the
improvement of the future human race, then
proposed certain eugenic remedies.”
Eugenic laws, based on evolution, were passed in
many states.
Virginia’s eugenic law, in 1924, allowed for the
state to sterilize its first victim, Carrie Buck, who
was a patient in the State Colony for Epileptics and
Feeble-minded.
A case was brought which went to the Supreme
Court.
There, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., gave
his infamous Buck v. Bell decision (1927), which
continued to allow the sterilization of people
without their knowledge or consent, stating:
“Three generations of imbeciles are enough.”
Because of Holmes’ decision, Virginia continued
to sterilize more than 8,000 people until the
practice was stopped in 1974.
Holmes also applied evolution to his decision
making philosophy, calling it “legal realism,” letting
judges alter laws to adapt to changing social and
economic conditions.
Professor Alan
Dershowitz
continued his
critique of the high
school textbook
used by John
Scopes, Hunter’s
Civic Biology:
After a discussion of the inheritability of crime and
immorality, the author proposed an analogy: …
‘Just as certain animals or plants become parasitic
on other plants or animals, these families have
become parasitic on society.
They not only do harm to others by corrupting,
stealing, or spreading disease, but they are actually
protected and cared for by the state out of public
money …
They take from society, but they give nothing in
return. They are true parasites …'”
Dershowitz added:
“From the analogy flowed ‘the remedy’:
‘If such people were lower animals, we would
probably kill them off to prevent them from
spreading.
Humanity will not allow this, but we do have the
remedy of separating the sexes in asylums or other
places and in various ways preventing
intermarriage and the possibilities of
perpetuating such a low and degenerate race.
Remedies of this sort have been tried successfully
in Europe and are now meeting with success in this
country.’
… These ‘remedies’ included involuntary
sterilizations, and eventually laid the foundation for
involuntary ‘euthanasia’ of the kind practiced in
Nazi Germany …”
Dershowitz continued:
“Nor were these misapplications of Darwinian
theory limited to high school textbooks. Eugenic
views held sway at institutions of higher learning
such as Harvard University, under racist
president Abbot Lawrence Lowell.
Even so distinguished a Supreme Curt justice as
Oliver Wendell Holmes upheld a mandatory
sterilization law on the basis of a pseudo-scientific
assumption about heritability and genetics.
His widely quoted rationale – that ‘three
generations of imbeciles are enough’ – was later
cited by Nazi apologists for mass sterilization …
… It should not be surprising, therefore, that William
Jennings Bryan … would be outraged – both
morally and religiously …
The textbook Scopes wanted to teach was … a
bad science text, filled with misapplied Darwinism
and racist rubbish.”
After the trial, William Jennings
Bryan wrote in his summary of the
Scopes trial of how science tells us
what we can do, religion tells us
what we should do:
“Science is a magnificent force, but it is not a
teacher of morals. It can perfect machinery, but it
adds no moral restraints to protect society from
the misuse of the machine.
It can also build gigantic intellectual ships, but it
constructs no moral rudders for the control of storm
tossed human vessel.
It not only fails to supply the spiritual element
needed but some of its unproven hypotheses rob
the ship of its compass and thus endanger its cargo
…”
Bryan continued:
“In war, science has proven itself an evil genius; it
has made war more terrible than it ever was before.
Man used to be content to slaughter his fellowmen
on a single plane, the earth’s surface.
Science has taught him to go down into the water
and shoot up from below and to go up into the
clouds and shoot down from above, thus making
the battlefield three times as bloody as it was
before;
but science does not teach brotherly love.
… Science has made war so hellish that civilization
was about to commit suicide;
and now we are told that newly discovered
instruments of destruction will make the cruelties of
the late war seem trivial in comparison with the
cruelties of wars that may come in the future …”
Bryan concluded:
“If civilization is to be saved from the wreckage
threatened by intelligence not consecrated by love,
it must be saved by the moral code of the meek
and lowly Nazarene.
His teachings, and His teachings alone, can
solve the problems that vex the heart and perplex
the world.”
Bryan’s 1925 statement was echoed by Winston
Churchill, who stated in 1941:
“But if we fail, then the whole world, including the
United States … will sink into the abyss of a new
Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more
protracted, by the lights of perverted science.”
BELIEVE – A Captivating & Inspiring
Devotional of Scriptures, Thoughts &
Quotations
William Jennings Bryan had been a Colonel in the
Spanish-American War, a U.S. Representative from
Nebraska and U.S. Secretary of State under
Democrat President Woodrow Wilson.
Bryan edited the Omaha World Herald and founded
The Commoner Newspaper.
Dying five days after the Scopes Trial, William
Jennings Bryan was so popular that his statue was
placed in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall by the
State of Nebraska and the Post Office issued a
$2.00 stamp in his honor.
Bryan gave over 600 public speeches
during his Presidential campaigns, with
his most famous being “The Prince of
Peace,” printed in the New York
Times, September 7, 1913, in which he
stated:
“I am interested in the science of government but I
am more interested in religion …
I enjoy making a political speech … but I would
rather speak on religion than on politics.
I commenced speaking on the stump when I was
only twenty, but I commenced speaking in the
church six years earlier-and I shall be in the church
even after I am out of politics …”
Bryan reasoned:
“Tolstoy … declares that the religious sentiment
rests not upon a superstitious fear … but upon
man’s consciousness of his finiteness amid an
infinite universe …
Man feels the weight of his sins and looks for One
who is sinless.
Religion has been defined by Tolstoy as the
relation which man fixes between himself and his
God …
Religion is the foundation of morality in the
individual and in the group of individuals …”
Bryan added:
“A religion which teaches personal responsibility
to God gives strength to morality.
There is a powerful restraining influence in the
belief that an all-seeing eye scrutinizes every
thought and word and act of the individual …
One needs the inner strength which comes with the
conscious presence of a personal God …”
Bryan stated further:
“I passed through a period of skepticism when I
was in college …
The college days cover the dangerous period in the
young man’s life; he is just coming into possession
of his powers, and feels stronger than he ever
feels afterward-and he thinks he knows more than
he ever does know.
It was at this period that I became confused by the
different theories of creation.
… But I examined these theories and found that
they all assumed something to begin with …
A Designer back of the design – a Creator back of
the creation;
and no matter how long you draw out the process of
creation, so long as God stands back of it you
cannot shake my faith in Jehovah …
We must begin with something – we must start
somewhere – and the Christian begins with God …”
Bryan continued:
“While you may trace your ancestry back to the
monkey … you shall not connect me with your
family tree …
The ape, according to this theory, is older than man
and yet the ape is still an ape while man is the
author of the marvelous civilization which we see
about us …
This theory … does not explain the origin of life.
When the follower of Darwin has traced the germ
of life back to the lowest form … to follow him one
must exercise more faith than religion calls for
…”
Bryan explained:
“Those who reject the idea of creation are divided
into two schools, some believing that the first germ
of life came from another planet and others
holding that it was the result of spontaneous
generation …
Go back as far as we may, we cannot escape from
the creative act, and it is just as easy for me to
believe that God created man as he is as to
believe that, millions of years ago, He created a
germ of life and endowed it with power to develop
…”
He added:
“But there is another objection.
The Darwinian theory represents man as reaching
his present perfection by the operation of the law of
hate – the merciless law by which the strong
crowd out and kill off the weak …
I prefer to believe that love rather than hatred is
the law of development …”
William Jennings Bryan concluded:
“Science has disclosed some of the machinery of
the universe, but science has not yet revealed to us
the great secret — the secret of life.
It is to be found in every blade of grass, in every
insect, in every bird and in every animal, as well as
in man.
Six thousand years of recorded history and yet
we know no more about the secret of life than they
knew in the beginning …
If the Father deigns to touch with divine power the
cold and pulseless heart of the buried acorn and to
make it burst forth from its prison walls, will he
leave neglected in the earth the soul of man, made
in the image of his Creator? …
The Gospel of the Prince of Peace gives us the
only hope that the world has.”
Democrat President Franklin D. Roosevelt stated
in an address at the Memorial to William Jennings
Bryan, May 3, 1934:
“No selfish motive touched his public life; he held
important office only as a sacred trust of honor from
his country …
To Secretary Bryan political courage was not a
virtue to be sought or attained, for it was an inherent
part of the man.
He chose his path not to win acclaim but rather
because that path appeared clear to him from his
inmost beliefs.
He did not have to dare to do what to him seemed
right; he could not do otherwise …”
Franklin Roosevelt continued:
“It was my privilege to know William Jennings
Bryan when I was a very young man.
Years later both of us came to the Nation’s capital to
serve under the leadership of Woodrow Wilson …
It was Mr. Bryan who said: ‘I respect the aristocracy
of learning, I deplore the plutocracy of wealth but I
thank God for the democracy of the heart.’
Many years ago he also said: ‘You may dispute over
whether I have fought a good fight; you may dispute
over whether I have finished my course; but you
cannot deny that I have kept the faith.’
We who are assembled here today to accept this
memorial in the capital of the Republic can well
agree that he fought a good fight; that he
finished his course; and that he kept the faith.”–
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BELIEVE – A Captivating &
Inspiring Devotional of
Scriptures, Thoughts &
Quotations
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The Forefathers Monument
Tucked away in a residential neighborhood, a short distance from downtown Plymouth, affectionately known as “America’s Hometown,” can be found the largest granite statue in the United States. The statue is called the “Forefather’s Monument.” It was often overlooked and even unknown to locals and tourists alike. But thanks to the efforts of Leo and Nancy Martin who run the Jenny Museum, Pastor Paul Jehle of the Plymouth Rock Foundation, the documentary “Monumental” narrated by actor Kirt Cameron, and Michelle Gallagher of Proclamation House to name a few, this incredible monument to commemorate the Pilgrims and the faith that sustained them has enjoyed a rebirth of interest.
( Leo Martin of the Jenney Museum with actor Kirt Cameron at the base of the monument)
This granite monument was conceived by the Pilgrim Society, which was formed in 1820 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Pilgrim landing. In 1849, the Pilgrim Society held a competition for a design and offered a $300. prize. The society chose the architectural firm of Zucker and Asborth of New York. However, the accomplished architect Hammatt Billings of Boston offered a design which the Pilgrim Society approved. Billings’ initial design was over 150 feet, which included an observation tower and a museum at its base. Billings’ other works include Wellesley College and the Boston Athenaeum.
Billings launched a national fund-raising campaign, with President Abraham Lincoln among the donors. The cornerstone of the monument was laid on August 2, 1859. It was attended by thousands of people, where public prayers were offered and a letter from President James Buchanan was read. The Civil War and the nation’s postwar economy led to a decrease in donations. As a result, Billings designed a smaller model, 81 feet, without an observation tower and museum. It still was a massive design. Billings didn’t live to see his project completed. He passed away in 1874. On August 1, 1889, the monument was dedicated with a crowd of over 12,000 on hand.
The monument’s central figure is “Faith,” depicted as a woman who stands at the top of the monument with a Bible in one hand and her other hand pointing to Heaven. Four statues underneath Faith are “Morality” holding the Ten Commandments, “Law,” “Education,” and “Liberty.” The monument also contains the names of the Mayflower passengers, a marble bas relief of the signing of the Mayflower Compact, and bas reliefs of “Justice,” “Mercy,” “The Embarkation,” “Evangelist,” “Youth,” “Wisdom,” and “Tyranny.”
“Monumental: In Search of America’s Treasure”:
In 2012, the documentary “Monumental: In Search of America’s Treasure” was released, leading to a renewed interest in the monument. From the documentary’s website,
Monumental is the story of America’s beginnings. Presented by Kirk Cameron, the 90-minute true story follows this father of six across Europe and the U.S. as he seeks to discover America’s true “national treasure” – the people, places, and principles that made America the freest, most prosperous, and generous nation the world has ever known. Long regarded as “the land of opportunity,” there’s no question the tiny band of religious outcasts who founded this country hit upon a formula for success that went way beyond what they could have imagined. What formula did they discover? What motivated them to come here in the first place? More importantly, how can we apply these same foundational truths today? Monumental is heralded as “inspiring,” “beautifully executed,” “powerful,” and “one meant to teach.”
The Jenney Museum:
In 2001, Leo and Nancy Martin founded the Jenney Museum and began giving tours of the monument. Tours are available from April 15 to November 29.
In 2021, Michelle Gallagher of Proclamation House wrote and published Forefathers Monument Guidebook. Michelle conducted a presentation at our annual family camp.
Teaching the next Generation in New Hampshire and beyond:
There is a recently created New Hampshire-based organization called The Matrix Coalition of New Hampshire, whose mission is to teach the state’s students about the Forefathers Monument. Led by Deb Roux, the group’s goal is to introduce the Forefathers Monument Guidebook and posters of the monument to public and private schools, hosting tours of the monument and Freedom Walks, the next one being on September 13 at the New Hampshire State House.
Both Camp Constitution and The Matrix Coalition are hosting tours of the Forefathers Monument Saturday October 11—1:00 PM and Saturday October 18—10: AM. To register or for more information, please email me at campconstitutuion1@gmail.com
The Weekly Sam: Eugenics and the Making of a Black Underclass
The late Sam Blumenfeld wrote a monthly newsletter from 1986 to 1999 and all of them are available in PDF format on the Sam Blumenfeld Archives. One of his most important and still timely was his June 1987 newsletter titled “Eugenics and the Making of a Black Underclass.” In this newsletter, Sam gives us a history of the racist roots of the I,Q. test, and how the “progressive educators worked together to promote their agenda in government schools. We put it back in print and make them available on our on-line store: https://campconstitution.net/product/eugenics-in-american-education-and-the-making-of-a-black-underclass-by-sam-blumenfeld/
And a link to a PDF version:
http://blumenfeld.campconstitution.net/1987/BEL%2002-06%20198706.pdf
The Blumenfeld Archives
The Weekly Sam: Education and Food Back in the Old Days By Samuel L. Blumenfeld
I was born in 1926, which makes me probably older than anyone reading this magazine.
Which means that I have a sense of history, that is, an understanding of cause and effect,
that most young people lack these days. Is it important? As Sarah Palin would say,
“You betcha.” In other words, I know history intimately because I have lived through it:
the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the current
wars. That’s a lot of history to know first-hand.
Although I was born less than ten years after World War One, that war seemed as remote
to me as if it had never taken place. That’s the way the memory works, and that’s why I
can understand why so many people today cannot know what it was like to live through
World War II or the Korean War, or even the Vietnam War. And I have no idea how the
schools teach these wars these days.
I was born on Manhattan Island in the world’s greatest metropolis, the most expensive
and legendary piece of real estate on the planet. I was born in one of those tenements in
East Harlem which was filled with new immigrant families and their new American
children.
At age five I was sent to kindergarten at the neighborhood elementary school, P.S.
Number something or other. Of course, I walked to school. A very nice policeman at the
corner helped us cross the avenue. In those days kindergarten was play time. Formal
education started in the first grade. I remember the name of my first-grade teacher, Miss
Sullivan. Or was it Miss Murray? She taught us to read with phonics and to write in
cursive. So our little brains were totally activated to become lovers of books and
writing. There was no such thing as dyslexia in those days, and certainly no such thing
as Ritalin.
The classrooms were pretty clean and bare back then. Just a portrait of George
Washington hanging on the wall, and a cursive writing chart over the blackboard. We
sat in desks bolted to the floor. Today, kids sit around tables facing one another,
coughing into each others faces, pestering one another. Back then you faced the back of
a fellow pupil’s head and you did not chat. You were quiet and attentive. The teacher
was the focus of attention. She wasn’t a facilitator. She had your attention, so you
couldn’t possibly get attention deficit disorder.
Back in those days we went home for lunch. My mother usually prepared a fried egg
sandwich and a glass of milk. Then I walked back to school. On Sundays my mother
would make a herring and onion sandwich on a roll which I loved. She would buy a
salted herring out of a barrel at the appetizer or fish store and that would be our Sunday
breakfast and lunch. They were delicious. That was Eastern European fare.
Your taste in food is developed very early in life by what your parents feed you. So I’ve
always liked fried egg sandwiches. Today, schools serve breakfast and lunch, so parents
have less of an influence on what a child gets to eat. Once, during a school outing, we
were served tuna-fish sandwiches and tomato soup. I had never had that at home, and I
liked them. My sister, two years older than I, had friends who introduced her to foods
my mother was unfamiliar with, such as mayonnaise. Once we discovered mayonnaise,
it became a household favorite. My sister also introduced me to chow mein in the local
Chinese restaurant. I’ve loved Chinese food ever since.
For some reason tomatoes tasted better in those days. That’s probably because the taste
hadn’t been altered by so much special scientific breeding. But you can’t stop progress.
And so the advent of the supermarket with its myriad of packaged and frozen foods and
the rise of so many fast-food franchises has made it easier for Americans to feed
themselves with as little fuss and time as possible.
As for education, progress in the public schools has seemed to go in the opposite
direction. Despite all of the computers and new textbooks, reading skills have declined.
According to Reading at Risk, a report issued by the National Endowment of the Arts in
2007, American literacy is in serious decline. Dana Gioia, chairman of the Endowment
stated: “This is a massive social problem. We are losing the majority of the new
generation. They will not achieve anything close to their potential because of poor
reading.”
In short, instead of getting smarter, our kids are getting dumber. High tech executives
complain that young Americans lack the basic skills that are needed in today’s high tech
industries.
And that is why home-schooling is where you find real progress in education: high
literacy, enhanced academic skills, interest in technology, government, history,
geography, and most important of all, Biblical religion.
If you want to see what educational progress looks like in the 21st century, just attend one
of the many home-school conventions that now take place every spring across America.
You’ll see parent-educators in droves listening to lectures, examining books and
curricula, making sure that what they do at home will enable their kids to become the best
educated young adults in America.
The Blumenfeld Archives
Are Anchor Babies Constitutional? A Presentation by Pastor David Whitney
Camp Constitution instructor Pastor David Whitney of the Institute on the Constitution gives a presentation on the subject of “Anchor Babies” and the U.S. Constitution. This presentation was conducted at our 17th annual family camp held at Singing Hills Christian Camp Plainfield, NH July 13-18, 2025.
Pastor Whitney refutes the notion promoted by the Left that the babies of illegal or legal aliens born in the United States are automatically U.S. citizens.