irresponsible democracy. . . The avowed end of the present War is, to make the Government a government of force.’

            The 14^th amendment was particularly notorious in this regard. It has been interpreted so as to apply the Bill of Rights to the individual States. Section 1 says, ‘No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States . . .’ This has had the effect of changing the nature of our government in two ways:

            1) It changed the intent of the Bill of Rights which were originally intended to limit the Federal government's powers, to restrictions upon the particular states. Thus, whereas before this amendment, the states had protection against the intrusions of the Federal government, now the Federal government has become the watch‑dog of the states. The states became ‘subsidiaries’ of the nation rather than ‘parties’ to the Union . The central government became the master rather than the servant of the states.

            2) This shift has transferred immense power to the Federal government to restrict the internal actions of states. Senator Lot Morrill of Maine stated quite bluntly the purpose of the 14th amendment: ‘We must see to it, that hereafter, personal liberty and personal rights are placed in the keeping of the nation...against State authority and State interpretations...The great object of this amendment is, therefore, to restrain the power of the States and compel them at all times to respect these great fundamental guaranties.’ (Abraham Lincoln and The Second American Revolution, p. 143)

            Within five years after its ratification, the Supreme Court in the Slaughter‑House cases began to redefine ‘privileges and immunities.’ The Court rejected the historic view of these things as biblically or religiously based and declared that privileges and immunities owed their existence to the grace of the Federal Government. Liberty in short, did not come from God, but was a gift of the Federal Government.

            By this definition, the Federal Government has taken the place of God. It has arrogated to itself the privilege of defining what is right and wrong, good and evil. When God is not acknowledged, man becomes the sovereign. When man becomes the definer of liberty, liberty is lost.

            Thus we find that we have lost what our forefathers called liberty. We have grown up in a world where no one truly ‘owns’ property (you may think you own it, but try not paying your property taxes one year and you will see who really owns your land).

            Further, we do not have liberty to use our property in lawful ways. ‘Environmental’ laws limit the freedom of use as well. We can kill our unborn children, but are forbidden to cut down a tree on our own property without a permit. The Federal Government as if it was God, asserts a pre‑eminent claim on the earth and the fullness thereof. One peculiarly blatant expression of this is ‘eminent domain.’ Whatever and whenever the Government desires the use of your land, it claims the prerogative to it. God destroyed Ahab for doing what the modern Government does every year.