Bryan Fischer
Obama's executive order unconstitutional on every level
By Bryan Fischer
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
On Monday, President Obama issued an executive order which violates every part of the Constitution it touches. Not, of course, that this is unusual for this president.
His order requires every company, large or small, religious or non-religious, to hire men who want to wear dresses, earrings, lipstick, and panty hose to work or face crippling sanctions.
In Article I, Section 1 – you know, the very first words of the Constitution – we the people made it crystal clear that "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States." That is "all" in the sense of "every last bit." How much legislative power does our president have under the Constitution? Zero, nada, zilch.
The role of the president in our system of government is limited to executing or implementing laws passed by Congress. That's it. He has no power whatsoever to make law, whether the issue is immigration, health care, or running a business.
But yesterday the president tyrannically imposed an order that has a clear and far-reaching public policy impact on 25% of the American workforce. He appointed himself the human resources director for every business in America that does work for taxpayers. But he cannot do that legally, morally, ethically, or constitutionally.
Executive orders are intended for use only for the president to provide direction to the executive branch as to how legislation passed by Congress is to be implemented. They are not and never can be a tool for bypassing Congress and making law. But this is exactly what King Barack the Lawless has done. Congress refused to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), so our dictator president went ahead and enacted it on his own by executive fiat. He can't do that.
Additionally, by imposing his own grossly immoral view of human sexuality on conscience-driven businessmen, he has transgressed not only Article I, Section 1 but the First Amendment as well.
The First Amendment, with a similar lack of ambiguity, flatly forbids the central government from enacting any legislation that prohibits the "free exercise" of religion. Now Christianity is likewise utterly unambiguous about the nature of homosexuality. It is an "abomination" according to the Old Testament and "contrary to nature" according to the New.
Homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, and transgenderism are expressions of sexual deviancy according to the Scriptures. Now some employers in America may wish to hire those who engage in sexually deviant behavior, but most Christian employers will not. For them, taking sexual deviancy into account in the way they run their businesses is a matter of the "free exercise" of their religious conviction.
The Founders made it clear that it was not just religious belief or even worship that is protected, but religious practice as well. It is the free exercise of religion that has the highest possible protection our form of government can give. The "free exercise" of religion is not something that a business owner does once a week for an hour on Sunday morning, but what he does 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including the hours he spends at work.
This president is doing exactly what he promised he would – "fundamentally transforming" this nation. He is turning this country into a morally grotesque caricature of the one bequeathed us by the Founders. We'd better get about the business of un-transforming Barack Obama's America while we still have a country left to save.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
July 22, 2014
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
On Monday, President Obama issued an executive order which violates every part of the Constitution it touches. Not, of course, that this is unusual for this president.
His order requires every company, large or small, religious or non-religious, to hire men who want to wear dresses, earrings, lipstick, and panty hose to work or face crippling sanctions.
In Article I, Section 1 – you know, the very first words of the Constitution – we the people made it crystal clear that "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States." That is "all" in the sense of "every last bit." How much legislative power does our president have under the Constitution? Zero, nada, zilch.
The role of the president in our system of government is limited to executing or implementing laws passed by Congress. That's it. He has no power whatsoever to make law, whether the issue is immigration, health care, or running a business.
But yesterday the president tyrannically imposed an order that has a clear and far-reaching public policy impact on 25% of the American workforce. He appointed himself the human resources director for every business in America that does work for taxpayers. But he cannot do that legally, morally, ethically, or constitutionally.
Executive orders are intended for use only for the president to provide direction to the executive branch as to how legislation passed by Congress is to be implemented. They are not and never can be a tool for bypassing Congress and making law. But this is exactly what King Barack the Lawless has done. Congress refused to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), so our dictator president went ahead and enacted it on his own by executive fiat. He can't do that.
Additionally, by imposing his own grossly immoral view of human sexuality on conscience-driven businessmen, he has transgressed not only Article I, Section 1 but the First Amendment as well.
The First Amendment, with a similar lack of ambiguity, flatly forbids the central government from enacting any legislation that prohibits the "free exercise" of religion. Now Christianity is likewise utterly unambiguous about the nature of homosexuality. It is an "abomination" according to the Old Testament and "contrary to nature" according to the New.
Homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, and transgenderism are expressions of sexual deviancy according to the Scriptures. Now some employers in America may wish to hire those who engage in sexually deviant behavior, but most Christian employers will not. For them, taking sexual deviancy into account in the way they run their businesses is a matter of the "free exercise" of their religious conviction.
The Founders made it clear that it was not just religious belief or even worship that is protected, but religious practice as well. It is the free exercise of religion that has the highest possible protection our form of government can give. The "free exercise" of religion is not something that a business owner does once a week for an hour on Sunday morning, but what he does 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including the hours he spends at work.
This president is doing exactly what he promised he would – "fundamentally transforming" this nation. He is turning this country into a morally grotesque caricature of the one bequeathed us by the Founders. We'd better get about the business of un-transforming Barack Obama's America while we still have a country left to save.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
