The U.S. Constitution: A Light About to be Extinguished
August 31, 2020 Blogs by: Tim Jennings, M.D.
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God’s kingdom is the kingdom of love, and love exists only in the atmosphere of freedom. Without freedom, love is destroyed and rebellion is instilled. If freedom is not reclaimed, individuality is eroded.

In a previous blog entitled Why Satan Hates the U.S. Constitution, I described in great detail that Satan’s method of governing is always using power over others – a few ruling elites dominating and exploiting the masses. I contrasted this with God’s kingdom, in which Christ did not think equality with God was something to be grasped but gave up power to become our Savior, suffering all the way to death in order to save His creation (Philippians 2:5–11). I documented that every government in human history has operated upon the power-over-others method – a few ruling elites exploiting the masses – that is, until the rise of the United States of America.

With the U.S. Constitution, for the first time in human history, a government was formed with the specific purpose of restricting the power of those in charge and distributing power to the people. The principles of liberty were understood to be sacred – a God-given right for all humanity and necessary for health and happiness.

The U.S. Constitution established a government that was designed to protect liberty. This new form of government put restrictions upon the power-over-others method of Satan and instantly became the object of the devil’s wrath. From the USA’s founding, the protections of liberty have been under assault, and I document this slow erosion in the aforementioned blog.

In this blog, we will examine how this nation was built upon the sacred principles of liberty and equality for all – and, as such, was a light to the rest of the world. The USA showed a better way to govern and promoted freedom for all people, giving hope for a better life, opportunity for individual development, and an environment for human advancement as never before seen in human history.

Benevolent Power

No nation in human history has ever acquired more power and abused it less – and used its power to help others more – than the USA. Just consider the two world wars of the last century. When in human history has another nation sacrificed so much yet taken no spoils, and then returned the conquered lands of her enemies to self-rule, and spent billions to help rebuild their enemies’ countries? Contrast how the USA and the Soviet Union dealt with post-WWII Europe and evaluate the results on the nations that came under each government’s authority. Which government (USA or Soviet Union) would you have preferred to be in charge of your country – and why?

Yes – the principles of liberty written into the U.S. Constitution have been a light to the entire world. But that light is under threat of being extinguished. This nation is under the most insidious assault, one that seeks to rewrite history, attempting to replace the historic principles of liberty on which this nation was founded with a revisionist lie that claims the USA was founded upon corruption, abuse, and slavery.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The current distortion of reality takes facts such as 1) many of the framers of the U.S. Constitution were slave owners; 2) slavery was not made illegal in 1776; and 3) after its independence from England, the USA continued to have slaves until the Civil War and twists them into a lie that suggests the bedrock principles of the USA were corrupt and discriminatory – especially to blacks. But this perspective is false, and falsehoods enslave hearts and minds. I want you to be free, and only the truth will set you free.

So here is the truth: Slavery is a human evil, the result of sin (fear and selfishness), that has existed as long as there has been human civilization.

  • 19th century BCE – the Bible records that the Egyptians and many other ancient societies, including the Hebrews, owned slaves.
  • 18th century BCE – the code of Hammurabi outlines rules for slavery in Babylon, which continued to have slaves through the 6th century BCE, when it was conquered by the Persians, who also had slaves.
  • 7th to 2nd century BCE – Greek states held slaves and were conquered by the Romans.
  • 2nd century BCE to 5th century CE – the Roman Empire held slaves.
  • 6th to 15th century CE – the states around the Mediterranean had slaves; the Germanic tribes of Europe captured so many Slavs in their wars that their racial name, “Slavs,” became the common name we use today for slaves.
  • 7th century CE and onward – the Arab states trafficked in black African slaves throughout the lands they ruled, including Spain and Portugal, in addition to the Saharan region.
  • 8th to 11th century CE – the Vikings held slaves, or thralls, from the people they conquered.
  • 15th century CE – with the advent of Portuguese sailing ships, the trafficking in sub-Saharan black slaves to Arab and European powers markedly increased.
  • 17th century – abolitionist movements began in Europe, and the conflict over eliminating slavery was in full swing at the time of the founding of the USA. Anti-slavery activism was led by Christians. In other words, it was the principles of Christianity, once the Bible was translated into the language of the people, that led to the abolition of slavery.
  • Today – sex-trafficking (sexual slavery), as well as other forms of forced labor, though illegal, continue throughout various countries of the world.

Thus, when the United States established its independence from England, slavery was already in the world. Slavery and racial discrimination did not start with the USA. Indeed, the framers of the U.S. Constitution had the vision and plan to eliminate slavery and promote the godly principle of equality for all human beings.

They even wrote this into the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

It was not an accident that the framers wrote “all men” (a generic term for humanity) into this declaration. All human beings are created equal in moral worth and value and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights – including freedom. This is one of the bedrock principles that has made America a light to the world.

But today, the argument is being advanced that America has been racist from its foundation; that if true equality had existed back then, then slavery would have been eliminated in 1776 or at the writing of the Constitution. Further, it is argued by those who seek to destroy the principles of freedom that the framers didn’t view black persons as equal to white people because the nation specifically counted slaves as 3/5ths of a free person when taking the census.

But what is the truth?

At the time of the founding of the United States, the 13 colonies, which became the original 13 states, were already divided into those that were primarily slave-owning (South) and those that were supportive of abolishing slavery (North). But before any national action could be taken, the colonies had to win their independence from Britain. In order to do this, they had to unite together; no single colony or portion of colonies (only Northern, for instance) would be able to successfully fight for independence from Britain. If independence were to happen, all 13 colonies had to join forces.

But the leaders of the Southern colonies would not agree to join with the Northern colonies if that meant slavery was outlawed. So the framers, with a vision to have a new nation in which all people are truly equal, wrote the articles of the Constitution to specifically and purposefully limit the political power of the pro-slavery states in the new government. Thus, slaves were counted, for the purpose of the census in determining the number of representatives to congress, as 3/5ths of a free person. This method of counting specifically diminished the number of congressmen from pro-slave states, thereby reducing their political power and laying the groundwork for the eventual elimination of slavery. The Constitution was specifically written so that it would eventually destroy slavery and give freedom to all people.

The USA was founded upon the principles of liberty and equality in a world in which slavery already existed and in which millions of people were prejudiced against equality. It takes time to change hearts and minds; however, the founding documents of this great nation did what the framers intended – they led to the destruction of slavery.

Restoring True Justice

Examine the course of human history prior to the USA and examine what has transpired since the U.S. Constitution became law. With each generation, liberty and equality have advanced. Slavery has been eliminated, Jim Crow abolished, discrimination outlawed, and black people have all the legal rights and privileges of any other racial group – and the USA has even elected a black president. Yet despite all this, the messaging from some today is that this nation – along with its core institutions and society – is foundationally racist, corrupt, and anti-black.

Why is such a distorted and false narrative being so actively spread throughout the land? Because the USA and its Constitution stand in the way of Satan and his methods of abuse, domination, control, and exploitation. The power-over-others method is not the method of Jesus. His methods are truth, love, and freedom in the service of others. Satan is the prince of this world, and this world operates upon survival of the fittest, the strong dominating the weak. Thus, the U.S. Constitution, with its divestment of power from the hands of a few elites and into the hands of the citizenry, must be neutralized in order for Satan’s forces to implement their end-time beastly system of control.

One direction of attack is the revisionist history designed to undermine in the minds of Americans the truth about this nation’s founding principles of liberty and equality for all people, which is designed to divide the people against these core values. If the people can be led to believe that the nation and its institutions are foundationally corrupt and racist, they can then be led to tear down more than statues; they can be led to tear down the Constitution and the freedoms that it provides. This is the real agenda: the destruction of liberty. And this is what Revelation predicts will happen before the second coming of Christ.

The Bible is clear: There will be a worldwide confederation of powers that coerce others to conform to their way. But this cannot occur as long as the U.S. Constitution remains in force. And so we see the Constitution under attack and realize that its protections will soon be removed.

The people of God must not get drawn into the practices of deceit, coercion, or domination of others. We must be able to discern the difference between God’s methods and the methods of this world. All the world will soon give honor to the beast – all, that is, except God’s elect, those who cling to and practice His methods and principles. We must be the light in the darkness. We must speak the truth in love, while leaving others free. But in the world today – the truth is becoming a rare commodity indeed.


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Tim Jennings, M.D. Timothy R. Jennings, M.D., is a board-certified psychiatrist, master psychopharmacologist, Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Fellow of the Southern Psychiatric Association, and an international speaker. He served as president of the Southern and Tennessee Psychiatric Associations and is president and founder of Come and Reason Ministries. Dr. Jennings has authored many books, including The God-Shaped Brain, The God-Shaped Heart, and The Aging Brain.
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