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What is the oath to the Constitution worth these days? [1]
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Date: 2022-08-22
FARESPITHE THOUGHTS ON THE OATH AND WHAT IT IS WORTH IN THESE DAYS
(FARESPITHE stands for faith, religion, spirituality, theology: “fare” like fair; “spithe” like with)
The first mention of an oath in The Constitution of the United States of America appears in Article II, Section 1, Clause 8 (or Paragraph 8): “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
The second mention of an oath in The Constitution of the United States of America appears at Article VI, Clause 3 (or paragraph 3): “The Senators and Representatives before mentioned and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any office or public Trust under the United States.”
The current oath taken by Senators and Congressional representatives was not written until the Civil War years of the 1860s, in order to demonstrate and underline the necessary loyalty to the government side seeking to save and defend the Union of the United States from a rebellion. That oath is: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”
The current oath at the time of enlistment for any member of the military is: “I, (person’s name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.” The oath of office for military officers adds the same language that is in the oath for Senators and Representatives, that is: “that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion”.
It is as obviously clear as it can ever be that from the writing of the Constitution by the founders and its acceptance at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 with its “unanimous consent of the states gathered”, and by its subsequent ratification by the states, and by further writing and adapting the subsequent oaths, that the one and only specific oath to the United States is the oath (combining some of the wording of the oaths) to preserve, protect, support, and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies foreign and domestic. No other oath to the United States has ever been required.
There was never, and is never meant to be, any oath of loyalty to any one person—not President, not Senator, not Representative, not General, not Admiral—not any officer of any rank in any military service—not any State constitution that can ever supersede in any way, shape, or form the Constitution of the USA. The founders obviously wanted what they considered to be a binding oath to what authentically and specifically established the nation as a nation—the Constitution, and only the Constitution! And following legislative actions have specifically understood that oath, even as rewritten for subsequent offices, to be precisely to and only to the Constitution of the United States of America. Yes, the Constitution is that sacred, that exceptionally special, that unique as to what it means to serve in the offices mentioned above and to be appropriately loyal to the nation!
This means that if you support, or encourage, or help enable any form of insurrection against the government established by the Constitution in any way whatsoever you are in violation of that oath of office to the Constitution of the USA, and thus you have failed to preserve, protect, support, and defend that Constitution, to which you are bound! Yet, as strange, weird, perhaps even bizarre as it is there is no specific penalty for violating this oath to the Constitution.
It makes little sense, or none at all to me, and likely a vast majority of others, that this is so since the deep significance of the oath as included in the Constitution and required for the President, all Senators and Representatives, all federal and state judicial officers, and all elected state officers, and all members of the military cannot be denied! But there are significant penalties for inciting, aiding, and or participating in sedition, rebellion, insurrection, and/or treason! It seems the founders believed and/or thought that the provisions about treason were enough to cover the violation of the oath to the Constitution, because if you were committing treason you were violating that oath in the worst possible way as far as they were concerned!
And since that definition of treason was put in the Constitution there have been additional laws that define treason, rebellion, insurrection, and sedition with legal penalties for those. U.S. Code, Title 18, Chapter 115, 2381: Treason: “Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.”
U.S. Code, Title 18, Chapter 115, 2383: Rebellion or insurrection: “Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States, or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.”
U.S. Code, Title 18, Chapter 115, 2384: Seditious Conspiracy: “If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.”
It is as obvious as is possible to me, and I suspect to anyone reading these laws, that these are exceedingly serious crimes, with both 2381 and 2383 concluding that any person convicted of violating these laws can never hold “ any office under the United States ”! It is also just as obvious that all the insurrectionists that committed violence or entered the Capital building on Jan. 6, 2021 illegally are guilty of both of these laws! It is also just as obvious that the former guy is as guilty as guilty can ever be of violating both 2381 and 2383, and also 2384!
The very thought that such a person who held such an office and violated these laws that carry the penalty of never holding office again under the US should be supported or defended, vocally or violently, is as absurdly irrational, ridiculous, and unreasonable as it is possible to be! The fact that he has also violated the law about mishandling the very highest level of top secret documents demonstrates again that he should not ever be allowed to run or hold any office ever again under the US, because he is also a danger to the national security, all of the citizens and inhabitants of the USA, and even to himself! He has demonstrated he is a domestic enemy!
The fact that he somehow believes or thinks (does he ever really think in the appropriate meaning of that word, that is actually considering anyone other than himself, and the possible results of his actions, especially including the possible negative effects on other people) that he still should be president or president again demonstrates convincingly just how dangerous he truly is to the USA and to himself! To me, and I think a solid majority, this is true without debate, doubt, or question!
So, I say to those who still support him, still claim the election was stolen over against all authentic, honest, provable, realistic, truthful evidence substantiated by 60 court decisions and the public testimony under oath of those who counted and recounted the votes—what has the government of the United States of America done so grievously to you that you believe he is worthy of support and even possible violent defense?!
Just please state the authentic, provable specifics of how you have been so wronged that you are so frustratingly angry that you are willing to do violence against the government, and/or government officials like the FBI and judges, and elected officials, by committing treason, rebellion, insurrection, and seditious conspiracy, all of which carry jail time and fines upon conviction?!
Is he really worth your loss of freedom and way of life?! Is your life actually, provably so awful, so terrible, and caused to be this way by the US government or its current president that you are willing to commit the crimes listed above?!
Do you have any assurance whatsoever that if you do this and succeed that you will actually gain what you think you will gain?! I mean we all know he has lied again and again, broken promises again and again—did not prove the election was stolen as he said he would—did not stop the certification of the election as he said he would—did not walk down to the Capital to accompany the insurrectionists when he said he would—did not give pardons to any of the insurrectionists as they thought he had promised—did not pay contractors who did work for him which meant common, ordinary workers were not paid—and on and on can be cited his not delivering what he promised?! Why should this be different?!
Is helping destroy this democratically elected republic, with all its guaranteed freedoms for all citizens by supporting an autocratic, fascist wannabe who will rule as if a dictator, or king, or sheik, or emperor, worth what you will lose if you do?!
What is the oath to the Constitution worth these days? What is the oath to preserve, protect, support, and defend the Constitution of the United States of America worth these days? Does it matter? Will it matter if any members of the military, active or retired, violate this oath and join in the insurrection? If they violate their oath does it not mean they have forfeited their freedoms and rights? If this oath does not matter than what does, because if it does not matter then the very document which created this nation and on which this nation exists and depends is useless and worthless and so in this nation!
If you think differently please tell me why and how. Thank you.
Love, grace, hope, joy, compassion, peace,
Rodney Noel Saunders
United Methodist Minister, ret.
August 21, 2022
[END]
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