(An aside: when I refer to and quote the United States Constitution in this artcle, unless otherwise noted, the information and quotes come from www.usconstitution.net)

In his trip to America, Pope Benedict XVI has said many profound things. However, this single sentence jumped out at me, and now I cannot get it out of my head. The latest Pontiff was quoting his predecessor, Pope John Paul II. And the entire quote from CNSNews.com’s story, “Pope Hails America’s Founding Principles“, by Terence P. Jeffrey, went: “Few have understood this as clearly as the late Pope John Paul II," he (Pope Benedict XVI) said. "In reflecting on the spiritual victory of freedom over totalitarianism in his native Poland and in Eastern Europe, he reminded us that history shows time and again that 'in a world without truth, freedom loses its foundation,'

and a democracy without values can lose its very soul.

What an insightful statement. What a prophetic use of language which should be a warning to us all. Not just the Chinese, who systematically suppress individual freedoms, not just the Taliban who suppress, or at least did, and are still trying to, an entire population under the guise of religion, an not just to the Castro brothers, who continue a brutal dictatorship under the guise of an equality for all system known as Communism.

No, this message must not be lost on the ears of Americans as being some very profound words that a lot of OTHER nations could really use. Folks, we could use them here at home, too. Maybe here more than anywhere as, we see the morality and teachings of our forefathers slowly, but steadily, slip away.

The United States of America was founded on certain basic Judeo-Christian ideologies which, in recent decades, have been totally turned on their head. One by one, we systematically pluck out truth from our society and replace it with lies, all in the name of progressive (i.e. liberal) ideals. One by one, we are undermining the very footers upon which this nation was built.

Was every forefather at those conventions perfect? Of course not. Did they sin, just as we do today? Naturally. They drank to excess, they murdered, both the enemy and each other, I’m quite sure many of them stole to feed their families, and some of them even committed what Barack Hussein Obama termed “America’s original sin”-- slavery.

However, that does not mean that the writings which laid down the very principles upon which this country was built were anything less than Divinely-inspired. But we, as a nation, have lost sight of that divine inspiration.

For instance, in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, it addresses the process of becoming a U.S. citizen. The Founding Fathers wrote: “Becoming a citizen

A non-citizen may apply to become a citizen of the United States. At no time will such a person ever be considered natural-born (unless the U.S. Code is changed in some way). The process to become a citizen involves several steps, including applying to become and becoming a permanent resident (previously known as a resident alien), applying to become and becoming naturalized, and finally taking the Oath of Allegiance to the United States. Children of naturalized U.S. citizens generally become citizens automatically, though they will also not be considered natural-born. There is a time constraint before a permanent resident can apply for naturalization, generally either 3 or 5 years. The other requirements are that there be a minimum length of time in a specific state or district, successful completion of a citizenship exam, ability to read, write, and speak English, and good moral character. (http://www.usconstitution.net).

Nowhere in that original document did I see anything about being able to sneak across the border long enough to be given amnesty! We have lost track of the truth!

Another lack of truth when studying the Constitution is that the President does not have the power to “react to acts of war in an expedient fashion as he sees fit.” While this is a broad statement, it does, in fact, give the president the authorization to most-definitely strike Afghanistan, who, outside of your Michael Moore types, is known to be behind the tragic events of 9/11/01. Thus, the constitution absolutely gave President Bush the right to attack Afghanistan in his capacity to “react to acts of war in an expedient fashion as he sees fit.”

This, obviously, brings us to the question of Iraq. Did the president have the right to, along with a “coalition of the willing,” attack Iraq and bring down it’s regime?” Please allow me to enter Exhibit ’A’ if you will: S.J. Res. 23:Authorization for Use of Military Force (Enrolled Bill) found at: http://news.findlaw.com/cnn/docs/terrorism/sjres23.enr.html.

The act says, verbatim:

Once again, we have to look at the truth. Now obviously, you and I will never have access to the intelligence reports, at least the non-redacted ones, to know exactly what they said about Iraq’s involvement in plans to attack America, although there is plenty of taped evidence suggesting that they had plans to do just that.