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Conflict Of
A Weekly Column By Walter B. Hoye II
Interest
In the abortion debate, is there a "Conflict of Interest"
within the Black community and among her leaders?

Subscribe Unsubscribe Forward Archives Issue No. 2010.354

The End Of The Republic

According to Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 [O.S. January 6th, 1705]
- April 17, 1790) one of the Founding Fathers of our country: "When [we] the
people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of
the republic."

Why Democracies Fail As A Form Of Government

"The lessons of history show conclusively that continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral
disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic,
a subtle destroyer of the human spirit." — Franklin Delano Roosevelt , State of the Union, 1935.

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only

exist until the voters (i.e., we the people) discover that they can vote
themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the
majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from
the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over
loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the
world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years." (Author Unknown. The
earliest known appearance of this quote was December 9, 1951, in what
appears to be an op-ed piece in The Daily Oklahoman under the byline
Elmer T. Peterson 1)

The Reflections Of "We The People"

"[N]either the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose
manners are universally corrupt." — Samuel Adams , State of the Union, 1935. 2

The preamble to the United States Constitution states: "We the People of
the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the
general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our
Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of
America." So what has happened to our country? Are the politicians to
blame? No! Emphatically No! Politicians are not the problem. Politicians
are a reflection of we the people. We the people are a reflection of the
Church. The Church is a reflection of our (i.e., we the people) commitment
to living by the Word of God. And in the end, our commitment to living by the
Word of God is a reflection of our love for Jesus Christ Himself. May God
forgive us!

The Church Must Be Reminded!

"My uncle (Martin Luther King, Jr.) ... once said, 'The Negro cannot win as long as he is willing to sacrifice the lives
of his children for comfort and safety.'" — Dr. Alveda C. King

In my opinion, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love, 1963 said it
best when he wrote: "The church must be reminded that it is not the master
or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be
the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not
recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without
moral or spiritual authority." Only the Church has the moral authority to
speak the truth into hearts of we the people.

Brothers, we really need to talk.

References:
1. The Daily Oklahoman, December 9, 1951, Elmer T. Peterson (http://bit.ly/fESalQ)
2. William V. Wells, The Life and Public Service of Samuel Adams (Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1865), Vol. I, p. 22,
quoting from a political essay by Samuel Adams published in The Public Advertiser, 1749.

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