Ben’s Blog

ACH Study Groups
Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders
7659 Gingerblossom Drive
Citrus Heights, CA 95621
916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com
www.ACHStudyGroups.com
March 13, 2020

This is a letter to our friends –

Morning Coffee

For several years now, Fran and I begin our day with a cup of coffee and the Bible. We use one of the “Through the Bible in a year” editions. It is divided into 365 daily readings.

This morning we are in Deuteronomy 6. Some sections seem especially timely.

” Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And you shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart: And you shalt teach them diligently unto your children, and shalt talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. … And you shalt write them upon the posts of your house, and on your gates.” [Deuteronomy 6:4-10]

Think about a little Jewish kid growing up in those days. He comes home from school and sees, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord” written on the gate, the door posts and (I suspect) at eye level on the drapes! He sits down for dinner and, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord” dominates the table talk. After dinner his dad takes him for a walk. Guess what they talk about! They get back and dad takes a nap. Yep! Same thing.

I think a little more of that would be good for our society today.

The Ten Commandments are written on the walls in several places of the Supreme Court. We used to memorize them. The first four are “vertical”, about how to love God: No god before God; No graven images; Do not take the Lord’s name in vain; Keep the sabbath holy.

The last six are about how to love others: Honor mom and dad that your days may be long; Thou shalt not kill; Thou shalt not steal; Thou shalt not commit adultery; Thou shalt not bear false witness; Thou shalt not covet.

The finger of God engraved them on stone tablets. They seem like common sense to me. Let’s start putting them on more walls again.

These columns are archived since 12/10/09
See www.ACHStudyGroups.com
“Ben’s Blog”

ACH Study Groups
Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders
7659 Gingerblossom Drive
Citrus Heights, CA 95621
916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com
www.ACHStudyGroups.com
March 11, 2020

This is a letter to our friends –

Politics & Religion

Many of us grew up being told to avoid speaking about politics and religion. Why is that? I believe it is because it leads to discord. Why does it lead to discord? We can talk about the weather, our job, our kids and our hobbies without much problem. Politics and religion are deeply personal. If you and I are not on the same page, human nature kicks in and we want to defend our particular belief. I call it, “My dad can whip your dad” syndrome.

Here is the problem. Politics and religion are the two most important subjects in the world! How is that so? Because Jesus Christ said so! “Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, … ‘Master, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said unto him, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.'” [Matthew 22:35-40]

Some readers may not yet accept Christ’s authority. Put another way – The Creator God, described in the Bible, exists. “Intelligent design” settles that issue. Since we (you and I) are created by Him and dependent upon Him for our next breath, we are obliged to look to Him in all we do!

OK then, – If we are to love God and love others, what are the rules? To “love” is to unselfishly want the very best for the loved one. [John 3:16] Common sense says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” But common sense is based upon human observation and human reason. Both human observation and human reason are imperfect. [Common sense once thought the world was flat.]

The loving creator, God, gave us the Bible. It is inspired (i.e. “dictated”) by God to the writers. Thus it has far more authority than common sense (“natural law”). In the Bible can be found the rules for loving God “with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” The same is true for finding rules for loving others.

We call the rules for loving others, “civil law” (“politics”)! Every time you look at a cross, you see a vertical line (“love God”) and a horizontal line (“love others”). Nobody can “want the very best for someone” in your behalf. We must each learn how to do that individually.

Teachers, parents, cultural traditions, etc. may be an influence (good or bad), but the ultimate relationship between you and the creator God is in your hands alone!

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” [John 14:6]

These columns are archived since 12/10/09
See www.ACHStudyGroups.com
“Ben’s Blog”

ACH Study Groups
Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders
7659 Gingerblossom Drive
Citrus Heights, CA 95621
916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com
www.ACHStudyGroups.com
February 26, 2020

This is a letter to our friends –

Socialism & Republicanism

U.D. Roberts of Columbus, Georgia is an accomplished political historian.

Recently he circulated an article discussing party differences in 1908.

These columns are archived since 12/10/09
See www.ACHStudyGroups.com
“Ben’s Blog”

ACH Study Groups
Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders
7659 Gingerblossom Drive
Citrus Heights, CA 95621
916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com
www.ACHStudyGroups.com

February 13, 2020

This is a letter to our friends –

Term Limits

The first time I recall hearing about term limits was after Franklin D. Roosevelt had just won his 3rd term as President. Congress set a Constitutional Amendment and the people ratified it. A President may now only serve 2 terms.

George Washington created a tradition by choosing to serve only two terms. All others followed it until Roosevelt. BTW – He died in his 3rd term.

Why do people want term limits? Most, I believe, would respond, “Once in office, the incumbent has advantages over challengers. Often, it is the only way to get them out of office!” In other words, “The voters are voting dumb!”

We have term limits now and (apparently) people are still voting dumb! Just look at California state politics!

Think about this – Do you want someone telling you who you may not vote for in the next election? That is what term limits do. Suppose you have a gifted legislator who is doing a great job and is term limited out.

Unintended consequences – When a new man arrives in office he must find a staff that can show him the ropes. About the time he is experienced he is termed out. By default, a corps of experienced, unelected staffers end up making most of the decisions!

If “voting dumb” is the problem, then raising the standards of the voters is the solution. “Oh”, you respond, “but that is too hard.” We have a lot more support going for us than the colonials in the 1800’s. We have the Declaration, the Constitution and 200 years of experience in “self-governing”.

What we need, that the colonials had, is a better understanding of how reliable Biblical principles apply to all aspects of life; government, education, sports, economics, family, …. .

Adult education is important for today. There are hundreds of groups shouting from the housetops (like this one). Youth education in reliable principles is vital if there is ever to be a corps of leaders to guide our ship of state in future years. I hope every reader will watch for opportunities to support principle approach schools.

These columns are archived since 12/10/09
See www.ACHStudyGroups.com
“Ben’s Blog”

ACH Study Groups
Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders
7659 Gingerblossom Drive
Citrus Heights, CA 95621
916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com
www.ACHStudyGroups.com
February 5, 2020

This is a letter to our friends –

What just happened?

Fifty-one of 100 U.S. Senators voted that President Trump is not guilty of Nancy Pelosi’s
First Article of Impeachment.

Fifty two of 100 U.S. Senators voted that President Trump is not guilty of Nancy Pelosi’s Second Article of Impeachment.

Please answer this question for yourself. Should any one of the 435 Representatives in the House of Representatives (House) be allowed to bring Impeachment charges against the President of the United States to the Senate for trial? How about the Speaker of the House alone? How about the Speaker and one or two of her many House Committees?

NO ! – The sole power of Impeachment belongs to the whole House. The whole House has yet to vote on Impeachment! When a House Committee demanded documents and testimony from the President and his staff he said, “No”. Then he sent a letter stating that the House must vote as a whole to give that authority to someone before he would honor their requests.

Ms Pelosi claimed he used his office to impede the House’s Impeachment investigation (Second Impeachment Article). I never heard the House Managers answer that point. Thus – It appears to me that everything that followed was without Constitutional authority. The majority of the House members (all Democrats) gave it false credibility by their silence. The U. S. Senate gave it false credibility by accepting the articles as valid. The Chief Justice gave it false credibility by presiding.

The President had no choice but to send his defense team. (Who featured the false credibility as their very first defense.)
The other (First) Impeachment Article is answered in like manner. Is a possibly corrupt candidate automatically immune from investigation because he is a candidate? The Democrats have consistently avoided that question by twisting the issue to claim Trump is self-serving by investigating corruption.

A good man, President Trump, has been and is being terribly slandered.
These columns are archived since 12/10/09
See www.ACHStudyGroups.com
“Ben’s Blog”

ACH Study Groups

Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders

7659 Gingerblossom Drive

Citrus Heights, CA 95621

916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com

www.ACHStudyGroups.com

January 18, 2020

This is a letter to our friends –

“Choose you this day whom you will serve.”

“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve!” [Joshua 24:15]

Joshua was right on! Only a fool would serve other than the God of the Bible. What does that service involve? Certainly it involves focusing upon the gospel (“Good News”). There are many collections of colonial sermons. A large group of them are called “Election Sermons”.

During election times the politicians would receive instruction from the pulpit about their Biblical responsibility with civil authority. The Bible teaches about God’s law of liberty in every part of the human adventure.

Shepherds are answerable for informing their flock. The Lord’s enemies have persuaded many of them that current events are “outside” the church responsibility.

If you are someone who wants to do something, but don’t know what you can do – here is an idea.

Ask your pastor to write a letter on church stationary to each local candidate for Congress or state legislature. (That way the church is not playing favorites.) Invite them to attend any Sunday worship service. Tell them – If they will give their card to an usher at the beginning of the service – they will be invited forward at the close of the service to introduce themselves and answer a few questions from the congregation.

I have seen this done. It is informative to many who may never have met candidates. Some candidates will be uncomfortable presenting themselves before a congregation. That too is informative!

The year of 2020 is a year of Spiritual Battle for the soul of our nation. Every one of us can do something. What will you answer when your grandchildren ask, “What did you do in that battle?”

These columns are archived since 12/10/09

See www.ACHStudyGroups.com

“Ben’s Blog”

ACH Study Groups

Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders

7659 Gingerblossom Drive

Citrus Heights, CA 95621

916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com

www.ACHStudyGroups.com

December 28, 2019

This is a letter to our friends –

Realy good news !

Colonel Buzz Patterson, has filed for Congress in my Congressional District #7. I am excited about it because he will defeat a hard liberal democrat, Ami Bera.

Buzz, a solid, principled Republican, has an impressive resume. You can read about him in Google.

Please mark your calendars Tuesday, January 14th at 6PM.

Fran and I are hosting a “Meet and Greet” neighborhood event in our home. Naturally every candidate needs money. Those of you in CD-7 are encouraged to do what you can. Those on this list outside CD-7 should support your local candidate, if you have a worthy one, else I invite you to support Buzz Patterson.

Just as important as money is name recognition. That is what this and future efforts will focus upon. When elected Buzz will help drain the swamp and plant some fruit trees where the swamp used to be. If we were hosting Tom McClintock or Donald Trump we might easily draw an impressive crowd. That is not likely to happen. Soooooo – We need your help in making this event helpful to the Buzz Patterson campaign. Help us help him.

No matter where you live, if you can manage some way to be here at 6 PM Tuesday Jan 14th make it happen! Bring a friend and do something for American liberty. (Please see the letterhead for our contact information. An RSVP w/b appreciated but not required.)

These columns are archived since 12/10/09

See www.ACHStudyGroups.com

“Ben’s Blog”

ACH Study Groups

Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders

7659 Gingerblossom Drive

Citrus Heights, CA 95621

916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com

www.ACHStudyGroups.com

December 13, 2019

This is a letter to our friends –

Democracy & Republic

DEMOC̵´RACY, n. [Gr. δημοκρατια; δημος, people, and κρατεω, to possess, to govern.]

Government by the people; a form of government, in which the supreme power is lodged in the hands of the people collectively, or in which the people exercise the powers of legislation. Such was the government of Athens. [Webster’s 1828 Dictionary]

REPUB´LIC̵, n. [L. respublica; res and publica; public affairs.]

1. A commonwealth; a state in which the exercise of the sovereign power is lodged in representatives elected by the people. In modern usage, it differs from a democracy or democratic state, in which the people exercise the powers of sovereignty in person. Yet the democracies of Greece are often called republics. [Webster’s 1828 Dictionary]

In a democracy the lawmaking, executive, and judicial power is in the hands of the people collectively. “One man – one vote” – think – majority rule. Another way to name it – “Mob Rule”. All the citizens get together and debate the issues and then vote.

Human nature is what it is. Large bodies are easily swayed by emotion. The ultimate democracy is a lynch mob – only one citizen objects! Two wolves and a lamb vote on what to eat!

When does a democracy work? It works in small groups of voters. A New England town meeting for example. Suppose the town’s well runs dry. The citizens meet and discuss the expense of drilling a new well. All use the well. They vote that the expense is to be shared equally.

There is no way the widow Jones with her 10 children can afford the water tax. It is a good town. Without much being said, her share is covered by others. But, suppose I am wrong. The Jones family must have water. Every time those who voted, walk by her home and see the kids going without shoes so they can have water, they are aware of the unintended results of their majority vote. Democracy in a small group is self-policing.

If a voting body gets too large the citizens are unaware of the unintended consequences. America’s founders understood that and tried to distribute authority among smaller groups.

They built our civil-government upon republics. The President is elected by representatives of (then) 13 States. Each State in turn was to be a Republic. The House of Representatives was composed of men who were elected by (then) small Congressional districts. The U.S. Senators were elected by (then) their State Legislatures. California has 120 lawmakers. New Hampshire as 400 in their State House of Representatives! The Supreme Court Justices are confirmed by our 100 U.S. Senators.

Who is even to know about the widow Jones if the “well question” is handled by all the voters in the county or state? Can you see the tyranny of the majority in large democracies?

Republics are better designed to protect the issues of the minority.

In 1928 we passed the 17th Amendment. Since then, U.S. Senators are elected by all the citizens of their state. There are 39 million people in California, 25 million of them are eligible to vote, about 20 million voted. California’s U.S. Senators must win around 10 million citizen’s votes. Before the 17th amendment they must win 90 legislator’s votes.

Think about it – Which alternative creates the best representation for the concerns of California? How significant does that make your vote for your State legislators?

These columns are archived since 12/10/09

See www.ACHStudyGroups.com

“Ben’s Blog”

ACH Study Groups

Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders

7659 Gingerblossom Drive

Citrus Heights, CA 95621

916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com

www.ACHStudyGroups.com

December 3, 2019

This is a letter to our friends –

Isaiah 33:22

“For the Lord is our judge,

the Lord is our lawgiver,

the Lord is our king;

He will save us.”

The news, these days, is filled with distortions.

One of them is something called “Separation of Powers”. Let’s begin with job descriptions.

* “The Lord is our Judge.” He decides good and bad as measured by a standard.
* “The Lord is our Law-Giver.” He creates the standards (laws). * “The Lord is our King.” He is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

You use these functions many times each day. Before getting out of bed, you plan your day. I.e. You make the rules for the day. – “Legislate”.

Then you carry out your plans. I.e. you “Execute” your plan.

At the end of your day you evaluate the events relative to the plan. I.e. You “Judge” the results.

America’s founders built this concept into our Constitution. The national government has three departments – Legislative, Executive, Judicial – with similar job descriptions. Congress makes the laws – “legislates”. The President enforces (carry out) the laws. The Supreme Court determines whether the laws and the execution are within the rules set by the Constitution.

This is illustrated by an equilateral triangle with its corners erased. Label each leg with a department (L, E, J). NOW THE NEXT STEP IS IMPORTANT! Please take time to think it through.

Take any two legs and assume both jobs were in one man’s hand. See that the third department would have no authority. If the President could write the laws, he could make anything legal. The court would be out of a job.

Each department MUST be independent of the other two. Each department must defend that independence. This is the core of the “check & balance” system. Further, the Constitution gives the legislature authority to limit the jurisdiction of the court. The court can declare a law unconstitutional. The President can veto a law. The legislature can impeach a president.

Each department has equal authority. The legislature has the authority to investigate, impeach, and try the President. It is my opinion the president has the authority to deny access to executive department staff if he chooses. I.e. Congress and the President have no authority over one another. The President need not cooperate with congressional investigations. Congress has no authority to demand cooperation from the executive department.

On another topic that will soon be in the news – – I have written before on this too. “We the people” are the people of the States United. The President is elected by delegations from each sovereign State. He is not the president of the people, he is the President of the United States.

I.e. the States United.

These columns are archived since 12/10/09

See www.ACHStudyGroups.com

“Ben’s Blog”

ACH Study Groups

Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders

7659 Gingerblossom Drive

Citrus Heights, CA 95621

916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com

www.ACHStudyGroups.com

December 3, 2019January 30, 2020

This is a letter to our friends –

His-story

If you have wanted an easy way to learn TRUE history – “American Minute” is the answer! Bill Federer puts out an e-mail post every day. It is a free subscription. A short daily read will soon teach you more important history than most Americans ever learn today! I archive them and use them for research and reference.

This is the first fund raising post I have seen in a decade.

I enthusiastically endorse Bill’s “American Minute” posts.

Ben

P.S. Let’s picture planting fruit trees where the swamp used to be!

Please consider Gift to spread American Minute

American Minute reaches thousands of people every day, but we could be reaching thousands more!

Pulitzer Prize winning historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., wrote in “Folly’s Antidote” (New York Times, January 1, 2007):

“History is to the nation as memory is to the individual.

… As persons deprived of memory become disoriented and lost, not knowing where they have been and where they are going,

so a nation denied a conception of the past will be disabled in dealing with its present and its future.”

Help us reach more people!

Please consider a gift to spread the American Minute.

Harvard Professor George Santayana wrote in Reason in Common Sense (Vol. I of The Life of Reason, 1905):

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Together, we can educate the next generation so they will not repeat the errors of the past!

Thank you for considering a gift to help spread the American Minute.

God bless you!

Bill Federer

www.AmericanMinute.com

P.O. Box 60442

Fort Myers, FL 33906

America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations

Click here to contribute. Thank you!

These columns are archived since 12/10/09

See www.ACHStudyGroups.com

“Ben’s Blog”