The year 2026, this year, marks the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. While the Founding generation sought for and prayed for prosperity and a land of liberty for themselves and their posterity and even understood the scope of what a nation blessed with liberty could accomplish, at least to some degree, they could not have conceived of how grand and glorious that prosperity would become. However, they understood what it meant for them and their posterity yet groaned and lamented about how easily it could be lost. I believe we have come full circle in liberty and circled back where we began, with government at all levels believing as King George and Parliament believed, including enacting as law the belief that they alone possessed the authority to “make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the colonies and people of America, subjects of the crown of Great Britain, in all cases whatsoever.” Federal, state, and local governments have all come to believe King George and Parliament were correct, without exception.
There is, however, one difference between the despots of 1776, who willingly endeavored to trample the liberties of their subjects and enslave them to their will, and the despots of 2026. The only difference being that we have done it to ourselves and are happy with the chains and slavery we have forged for ourselves and have become accustomed to and comfortable with. We have no desire to follow the Founding Father’s footsteps, to shake off the chains of slavery, and restore lost liberties. We prefer our “peaceful slavery over dangerous liberty.” We prefer our idol god of government and place our trust in our gods of stone and steel that we fashion in ships, planes, guns, and heroes that used these gods to take the lives and liberties of other people, including our fellow citizens. We do this in the name of our idol gods, without even understanding that our gods can make no demands of us, can provide nothing for us and ultimately can do nothing for the protection of life, liberty, and property.
The Bible of our gods have become “so voluminous that they cannot be read, [and] so incoherent that they cannot be understood.” Yet, the word of our lord is most precious to us. Our legislative, executive, and judicial priests and pastors all pay homage to the word, which may be changed to suit the needs of our god at the whim of the grand high priest of government at whichever level of perceived authority they are in.
The Founders, if they saw all that the nation they fought, bled, and died for, has become would be both awed and revolted. They would be awed at the prosperity, the innovations, the success of individuals, the miracles of medicine, travel, communication, even art, science and the amount of available information or knowledge available.
Nevertheless, they would be revolted, disgusted and even confused at their posterity, who, despite having all these miracles and blessings of prosperity have traded their birthright of inalienable rights for bondage and a bowl of pottage, prostituting themselves to an unbenevolent god that does nothing for them, nor can do anything for them but will take everything from them and tell them they will be happy even while losing all. Worse still is that with our chains and shackles firmly clasped, we celebrate with parades, tributes, fireworks, great oratory from our priests and high priests, and pledge burnt offerings of gratitude in the form of steaks, hot dogs, burgers and more to our gods. Worst of all, we know not the true name of the god we worship. We assume the name of our god to be democracy. This god, however, is called tyranny. And this god is not eternal and immortal. Rather it is suicidal. But at least we sure do keep our eye single to the glory of our god.
John Adams wrote about the god of democracy noting “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. It is in vain to say that democracy is less vain, less proud, less selfish, less ambitious, or less avaricious than aristocracy or monarchy. It is not true, in fact, and nowhere appears in history. Those passions are the same in all men, under all forms of simple government, and when unchecked, produce the same effects of fraud, violence, and cruelty. When clear prospects are opened before vanity, pride, avarice, or ambition, for their easy gratification, it is hard for the most considerate philosophers and the most conscientious moralists to resist the temptation. Individuals have conquered themselves. Nations and large bodies of men, never.”
At this point, I am sure you are ready to proclaim my words to be blasphemy. May it be so. For I do not worship some unknown and false god. But I seek to tear down the groves of false gods, break up the idols of stone and steel created by men, and to proclaim liberty to the captive, which is a nation full of sleeping subjects who lie comfortably in their beds of chains attached to dungeons of their own making.
What is it they we need to wake up to? Well, for starters, every charge made against King George and Parliament, found in the Declaration of Independence, the document that began the end of tyranny 250 years ago, has been reintroduced to us by the governments of our own making, which endeavor to pick up where George left off. And they are doing so quite successfully, too, I might add. We need to carefully review the whole document of the Declaration of Independence, not just the parts which the government god allows us to study and even minimally teaches in its Sunday School equivalent- public schools. What is allowed is to be learned is that all men are created equal and taxation without representation. That is it, basically. But, like the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz, government is great and powerful, and what he tells you is all you need to know, and you must not question your god, ever.
In order to throw off the false gods of government, we must first understand all its false teachings, practices, procedures and question what authority this so-called god claims, and compare it with the claims, principles and history found in the Declaration of Independence, along with understanding the charges made against King George that violate the natural, unalienable rights of mankind. For a more detailed understanding read or reread my book The Founders’ Revolution: The Forgotten History and Principles of the Declaration of Independence. We will touch lightly on a few of the charges here and how government is endeavoring to repeat the grand acts of the great King George from 250 years ago. While not quoting from the book or the Declaration directly, I will summarize the charges and government’s continuance of King George’s tyranny. My focus will be on Idaho and the federal government, but I can guarantee it applies everywhere. Unfortunately, time and space necessitate pointing to only a few of the charges against King George and their application to our idol gods of today.
Charge 1: Government refuses to allow for good laws. This also includes getting rid of bad laws. In Idaho, citizens are still burdened with grocery sales tax, despite their overwhelming desire for it to end. Nearly every other state in the union does not tax groceries. Idaho, the pseudo-conservative state it is, maintains it still. The federal government is no less guilty in taxing its people on goods and services, despite giving Republicans a majority in Congress and a Republican president. No tax relief has come, rather it continues to increase, whether in the form of no tax relief or in continued deficit spending, which is a tax, especially on the poor.
Charge 2: No laws allowed without consent from the high priest of the land. How do individual states and even the federal government pass laws? They keep in mind whether or not the Supreme Court will strike down the law or uphold it. Never mind that the black robed high priests do not have law making authority but can only judge whether a person is guilty or not guilty of following the law, then declare the punishment as provided by the law, if any. Note that in the case of both SCOTUS and King George, neither possessed authority to declare any law constitutional or not. Yet both became or have become the most powerful high priests of the land, despite being relegated to be almost completely powerless by the governing documents granting them any authority.
Charge 3: Large districts of people are not accommodated unless they give up representation. The 17th Amendment is the perfect example of the states losing representation in the federal government. In the case of Idaho, nearly all representation has been lost to lobbyists. Idaho representatives only pander to those who pay the most. The little man cannot afford to purchase requisite sacrificial peace offering dove to offer their legislative priests who demand a red heifer sacrifice to get access to the blessing of the idol god. One example, if you ever go to testify on a bill in a committee, you will see who gets the most time allotted to them- lobbyists. Legislating priests take time to hear from all, they will say, but rarely, if ever ask questions, ask for more comments or give more time to the serfs. The know-nothing lobbyists or so-called experts quite often are granted more time than Joe Serf. Even one on one, more time is allocated to lobbyists.
Charge 5: Dissolution of representative houses because of opposition to a violation of rights. While not outright dissolution, the effects of decisions have the same effect. The federal high priests struck down Idaho’s marriage amendment with a vote of just a few black robed high priests, over the will of the legislative priests and a vote of the serfdom as required by Idaho’s constitution. Why have a legislature or constitution, if it can be disregarded? Especially when Congress approved of Idaho’s constitution when it became a state.
Charge 7: Having to do with immigration and naturalization, the king was preventing immigration of needed craftsmen and other skilled people. Worse still, he was sending criminals to America. In America today, a plethora of criminals freely came into the US, making the federal government act exactly like the king. Yet our idol god is complacent because, like all idol gods, they are deaf to the cries of their subjects.
Charge 10: Erecting many new government offices, filling them with many new officers who waste tons of taxpayer money. All levels of government grow and tend to grow at a rate much greater than the rate of inflation. With that growth, taxpayers have fewer dollars to pay for the things they need or want. Thus, government eats out their (taxpayers) substance. The federal government has hundreds of agencies with millions of employees. Idaho has nearly 100 agencies with over 35,000 employees, not counting the individual local governments, including school districts, city and county governments and other taxing districts, all taking more taxpayer money each year in an attempt to satiate the insatiable appetite of the empty idol gods and their priest and high priests.
Charge 13: Subjecting us to foreign authorities. Washington D.C. and everything done there is foreign to the principles and ideas of Idaho, from spending into oblivion, to regulation of everything, to foreign wars, to providing no protection from foreign criminal invaders, in short, to controlling everything having to do with citizens from cradle to grave. Moreover, our D.C. high priests contribute vast sums of peace offerings to foreign gods in Israel, Ukraine, Germany, Japan and to the NATO and UN gods, and a plethora of other foreign gods too numerous to name. Worse still is Idaho government also subjects us to foreign authorities by refusing to protect citizens from the onslaught of federal regulations, accepting and spending with gusto federal funds and failing to protect, Idaho’s own constitution from federal intrusion, as mentioned above with Idaho’s marriage amendment, among many others. Idaho is but a vassal state to a foreign authority.
Charge 14: Quartering armed troops among us. If you think that is not happening, then you have completely missed the story of Qatari troops being trained in Mountain Home. Neither Idaho nor the federal government is stopping it. This is no different than King George quartering his troops and foreign mercenary troops among us. As a side note, if we think that the 3rd Amendment is the one amendment that is no longer relevant, you have totally missed the point of it and the story of the Qatari troops. And Idaho is not the only place in America either.
Charge 15: Protecting them from punishment. While not necessarily pointing to the foreign Qatari troops, this can be used to point at the FBI or other federal standing military from being protected from punishment, which the FBI and other so-called federal law enforcement are. In fact, it is hard to point to any federal employee, who is ever punished according to high priests own laws found in their holy bible. States are no different. If there is punishment, it is rarely the individual punished for criminal acts but the agency or department that is punished, who may be forced to pay large sums as a result of lawsuits. In reality, these punishments from lawsuits are punishing the taxpayers for the deeds of the individuals that rarely receive personal punishment. All levels of government are protected from any punishment of acts done by its personnel that violate the unalienable, inherent rights of citizens. And these acts are done multiple times a day, though the serfs are fine with their comfortable chains as long as they are not the ones being drawn and quartered.
Charge 16: Cutting off trade with the world. Trade is always cut when tariffs are added to foreign goods coming in. And in some cases, trade is prohibited with countries the high priesthood has deemed unworthy to have relations with. Every regulation, every tax added to goods and services increases costs, cutting off the ability of some to be able to purchase goods, even goods made in America or Idaho. While not cutting it off, making it more difficult to trade has the same effect. Idaho wants to support Big-Ag? Quit cutting off taxpayers’ ability to trade money for food by ending the grocery sales tax. That will not happen, as the priesthood demands their sacrificial offerings.
Charge 17: The taxing without representation charge. If we think this is not happening, think again. If you own more than one property that is in different taxing districts, in at least one of them, you are taxed without representation. You are allowed to vote in your first or permanent residence. But if you own a vacation home or cabin or even a business in a different city, county, or other state, you are not allowed to vote in that area. Thus, your other property is taxed, and you have no voice in who represents you. SCOTUS high priests defined voting as one person, one vote, thus making government like King George. Serfs are thus taxed without representation from all priests who demand their offerings.
Charge 20: Making themselves the absolute rulers by expanding their boundaries (read jurisdiction or authority). The federal government does this anytime there are laws regulating the internal affairs of a state, such as intrastate commerce. They are allowed to regulate only interstate commerce. This applies to the 9 black robes high priests who were granted no jurisdiction on internal affairs of a state, yet ignored and usurped authority to do so. The Idaho Supreme Court is no different. The legislature actually passed a grocery sales tax repeal in 2017. The governor failed to veto within the allotted 10 days but vetoed the bill on the 11th day, one day after becoming law. The supreme court made themselves the absolute ruler, changed the constitution to mean what they wanted and upheld the unconstitutional veto, thus expanding their authority and jurisdiction.
Charge 21: Taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and fundamentally altering our governments. I mentioned this above with Charge 20, altering our constitution both by SCOTUS (marriage amendment, among others) and the Idaho Supreme Court. The legislature fundamentally changed Idaho’s government to allow for more democracy in 1912 by giving us the initiative process. Every initiative has expanded government with the worst-case in recent years being Medicaid expansion. All levels of government ignore our constitutions or charters, ignoring where authority is derived and passing numerous unconstitutional laws, decrees and allowing unauthorized rules to have the force of law.
Charge 22: All levels of government have declared for themselves the power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. Taxes are just the tip of the iceberg. The serfs are told we have to ask permission to build on our property, to travel (licenses), to open and run a business, the types of health care, the types of cars and quality of cars we may use, in short, every action or product must meet the high priesthood’s approval, which priesthood also requires payment for unrequested and unwanted services of the holy priesthood.
Charge 24: Plundering of our seas, coasts, town, and destroying people’s lives. Plundering comes in taxes, called legalized plunder. Disobey their laws and regulations, they will plunder everything, take your lives, if you rightfully resist, and like Waco burn your town to the ground, or like Ruby Ridge, kill your wife, son, and dog. State of Idaho is no less culpable in destroying the lives of its citizens, all in the name of safety or whatever made up excuse they use. For example, City of Kuna police, who are contracted Ada County Sheriff deputies, attempted to destroy the life of a dangerous 70-year-old for simply looking in a police vehicle. The violent assault by the police costing taxpayers $250k, as just one example. Note, not one individual officer involved lost their job, paid any fine, received any punishment. They are protected from punishment, as noted in a prior charge.
Charge 27: Exciting domestic insurrections. Do the 2020 peaceful protests ring a bell?
The most incredible part of the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence celebrations is that we only hold true to the statement made by John Adams about celebrating Independence Day. The part we remember is “It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore.”
Unfortunately, we fail to follow what Adams said before that statement, which was “It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.” This is not to our current idol and dumb gods of government that we commemorate today. We no longer recognize our Creator and Author of Liberty. We no longer recognize the God found in the Declaration itself, titled “Nature’s God,” “Creator” and no longer appeal to the “Supreme Judge.” We are lucky if we appeal to God on Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving (to whom else are we to give thanks?), or Independence Day, though we should be appealing daily, at the very least.
Rather, every day, we pay tribute to our idol gods in taxes, fees, fines, permits, licenses in both life and in death. We demonstrate obedience to all the commandments of the high priesthood whose commands change at the whim of the chosen leadership of our idol and dumb gods, who claim authority and promise to protect but instead endeavor and are destructive to the ends for which they were created by the people, which is to protect the unalienable rights of the people, namely life, liberty and property. Our idol gods have a “long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object [that] evinces a design to reduce them [the people] under absolute despotism.”
Adams lamented our current day that he surely knew would come. “Posterity! You will never know, how much it cost the present Generation, to preserve your Freedom! I hope you will make a good Use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the Pains to preserve it.” He is most definitely repenting of paying so much for our freedom, which we have wasted away.
The real question in all of this is what is to be done? There are but two ways this can be done— peacefully or bloody. Jefferson said that “a little rebellion now and then is a good thing.” We must cast off our false god of government that claims authority to “legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.”
We must educate ourselves as to the proper role of government, the only legitimate role- protecting life, liberty, and property. Our current idol god claims that everything they do protects these rights. However, the limitations on protection end where the rights of another begin. That is, only the power vested in an individual may be vested in the representative of the individual, government. You must ask yourself this question—do I have a right to do whatever action I do against my neighbor? If you do not, neither can your representative, government.
We no longer see a need or recognize that our idol god is idol, dumb, knows nothing and has no power, that the limits to what it can do is so limited as to be practically nothing. Instead, we have replaced the one true, living, omniscient, all-powerful God, to whom we should give thanks, obedience, reverence, love and celebrate, with a god of our own making, to which no allegiance should be made.
We have come a long way in 250 years. Yet we have circled back and returned to where we started. It is time for a little rebellion— one that leads us permanently off on a freedom tangent that never returns to tyranny and the trampling of rights. Our Founders left us a legacy of freedom, attempted to take us and all mankind off the road to serfdom, and unshackle us from the false traditions of the history of mankind, which tradition is that people cannot govern themselves. Our idol gods of government and their holy priesthood still believe the people cannot and we have chosen to go along with their false teachings.
This 250th Anniversary commemoration must include a return to the principles of our Fathers. We must follow their example of throwing off any power or authority usurped by government and follow the advice of Abraham Lincoln. “Now, my countrymen, if you have been taught doctrines conflicting with the great landmarks of the Declaration of Independence; if you have listened to suggestions which would take away from its grandeur and mutilate the fair symmetry of its proportions; if you have been inclined to believe that all men are not created equal in those inalienable rights enumerated by our charter of liberty; let me entreat you to come back…[C]ome back to the truths that are in the Declaration of Independence.”
