In a recent FOX News poll, people were asked if they thought that President Biden had the authority to forgive student loan debt. Sadly, the results were almost evenly split, with 43% of respondents saying “Yes” and 49% saying “No.”
And therein lies one of America’s biggest problems. We have become a nation of emojis!
The U.S. Constitution – especially Articles I, II, and II – clearly delineates the separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Meanwhile, Article I, Section 8, Clause I very specifically empowers Congress (and Congress alone) to raise monies through taxes and to disburse those revenues as it sees fit. And yet, almost half of the respondents in the FOX poll were more than willing to allow their feelings to trump the foundational document of the United States of America.
“I think” and “I feel” has replaced “the Constitution says” throughout our country and even more tragically, in both the Oval Office and the halls of Congress. Men and women who once swore an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic” and to “bear true faith and allegiance to the same” have instead relegated it to the archives of history, only to be dusted off and conveniently applied when it suits their preconceived political agendas.
This “elevation of emotion” had similarly infiltrated the American church where pastors and parishioners alike base their theology on personal opinion and public sentiment rather than on the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God. Just like the Constitution, the Bible has become simply another point of reference instead of the absolute authority in all matters of faith and practice.
When I ran for the U.S. House of Representatives, I would often tell people in my district not to vote for me. “I am human and will at some point let you down,” I would say. “Instead, vote for the things I believe in – the Bible and the Constitution of the United States – because they will never let you down.”
To their credit, more than 70,000 people followed my advice and cast their ballots for a flawed but constitutionally-grounded candidate. But as you may have guessed, more than 190,000 voted for my opponent, who was one of the primary architects of Obamacare… which, despite Chief Justice Roberts’ convoluted reasoning, was clearly unconstitutional.
Forget about Russia, China, and climate change. The greatest existential threats to America today are biblical and constitutional illiteracy.
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Dale Glading is an ordained minister and former N.J. Republican candidate for Congress.
