This past weekend has been an interesting one to say the least. Football players are being praised or protested by some for “kneeling down” during the National Anthem, while on another football field coach Joe Kennedy was fired for “kneeling down” to pray before a game.
Despite the paradox we live in, I want to give attention to a subject worth more than the show of multimillionaire entertainers who can’t seem to clearly articulate what they are even doing, and that is the concept of interposition.
You see, America was established through interposition, and that very thing keeps us free from tyranny today.
Interposition was birthed around 2,000 years ago when our Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of God, absorbed the penalty of suffering and death on behalf of sinful humanity.
Following Christ’s example, this sacrifice has been witnessed generation after generation by Americans who have enlisted in our armed forces, heeding the call to lay down their lives for our country and her citizens in the cause of freedom.
Many don’t realize that interposition is also precisely what the Declaration of Independence was all about. Look at the following words from the Document:
…And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
This doesn’t only apply to our founders and our military. Hazarding everything for the sake of the governed is precisely what we should expect from our state and local officials as well.
Unfortunately, interposition is a seldom-used act. It exists as the proper, legal, and required means of protection for citizens from tyranny at all levels of civil government.
To better understand this concept let’s take it to the football field. You see, interposition has everything to do with a victory or a loss on the field. The job of the offensive line is to promote the freedom of forward ball movement by “interposing” itself between the tenacious defenders whose goal is to stop the liberty of the forward momentum of the offense. Now what would happen if after the quarterback received the snap the offensive line, rather than interposing between him and the defense, dropped to their knees in protest, or worse, they joined the defense and attacked the defenseless ball carrier? As a former quarterback, I can still feel the pain of the sack that would follow.
If we translate this to individual rights and liberties, our sheriffs, police, local judges, legislators, and appointed officials are duty-bound to get between the people and the lawless threats to our liberties, including those of lawless federal government agencies.
As Americans we all know our teams will return again and again to compete for the big Bowl. I suggest we take our enthusiasm and resources to discover which state delegates, senators, sheriffs and judges will hold the frontline on their feet, not their knees.
Unlike professional sports, “Liberty is never more than one generation away from extinction.”
*** Jake MacAulay *** is a Life and Liberty News Contributor and serves as the Chief Operating Officer of the Institute on the Constitution (IOTC), an educational outreach that presents the founders’ “American View” of law and government. The former co-host of the syndicated talk show, The Sons of Liberty, he is an ordained minister and has spoken to audiences nation-wide, and has established the American Club, a constitutional study group in public and private schools.
Learn more about your Constitution with Jake MacAulay and the Institute on the Constitution and receive your free gift.
