West Alabama Gazette Column 4/26/23

 God and Country, Bible and Guns

Well, this week's title is popular, huh? And if you're into social media, there's been many a meme showing it.

In the Christian realm, some professing Christians believe that we shouldn't have guns. In my opinion they take certain Scripture out of context to support their view. To be sure, God's word does say we are to live peaceably with all men if possible. But it also says we are to provide for our family which would include protection, and that Jesus told the disciples He commissioned the second time, to get some swords. If we live by it, we may die by it, but that doesn't forbid using it for protection. They may not be as fast as a "speeding bullet" but they are just as deadly. 

Of course the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution should be a no-brainer. But many on a global and national level have been diligent to make Americans believe otherwise. The current President has publicly said it's not absolute. In the opinion of this writer, both God's word and the U.S. Constitution protects the God-given right to self-defense from enemies both foreign and domestic. As I've written before, but as a reminder and in case some are reading this for the first time, Senate Bill S.25 has been proposed and is called the 2023 Assault Weapons Ban. This ban includes anything that holds more than 10 rounds (can anyone say 9mm?). People that already possess such would be grandfathered in (Oh gee, thanks). Don't take our U.S. Senators and Representative for granted, and be sure to contact Senators Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt and Representative Robert Aderholt by phone, email, a website, or letter, and tell them you expect them to vote against this Bill. Also contact our State Senator and Representative Greg Reed and Tracy Estes and let them know that if S.25 should pass, you expect Alabama to fully nullify it without conditions and loopholes. Remember, while the Bible does say we are to submit to the governing authority, our governing authority in the "uSa" is the Constitution. Again, we are a Constitutional Republic! We don't know how far "they" would go, but in a peaceful way, the answer is NO! While you are considering these things, also consider whether you should buy a[nother] 9mm so it will be grandfathered in if the Bill passes. And maybe something smaller too. Don't forget to try to buy local if possible :-). 

On the State level, Alabama seems to be going about protecting schools "bass ackwards." This involves several bills that would prevent law abiding citizens from going into a school to try to protect their children and grandchildren, instead of focusing on allowing teachers and faculty to be armed. I recommend you contact Mr. Reed about that. Mr. Estes already told me in text that he is against those Bills. 

Thanks for reading. Please tell others about this column. I would love to hear from you. Email or meet me at my church if you'd like to talk more about these things. 

Bret Lovitz, aka Pester Brat, is the founder and director of the National Outreach "Fellowship of Concerned Constitutional Patriots" and the local chapter "La-Fayette Meeting Place." He is a member of Calvary Baptist Church in Vernon Alabama. You can follow him on his 2 Facebook accounts (Pester Brat, and Bret Pester Brat Lovitz that includes his weekly Gimme 5 videos most Monday mornings) and his blog at pesterbratdotcom.blogspot.com. His email address is pesterbratdotcom@aol.com.  

West Alabama Gazette Column 4/19/23

 It's Economical Watson Pt. 2

I do appreciate the owner and manager of this newspaper allowing me to run my weekly (and maybe eventually bi-weekly) column. I wrote last week of the huge national debt we have. There is much cutting of spending that the federal government could do, but they won't. Earlier this year the Federal Reserve announced the FedNow Digital Payment Plan will start July 2023. That is likely just a foot in the door for them to go to Digital Currency. And that my friends and neighbors is not something we should allow and participate in. Sooner or later they would use that to control what you could buy and sell, and more. I also wrote last week that Alabama, Lamar County, each of our towns, communities, homes, and churches should be working towards self sufficiency. However in my opinion, our State Rep and Senator don't have a handle on the problem. I'm imploring all readers that see the problem and agree, to contact them and tell them you want them to work towards Alabama being completely self sufficient, immediately! 

Did you know that even if you do not have a mortgage on your home, you could still lose it if you can't pay property taxes? Yeah, I know it is not as much as most counties or states. But if the economy crashes bad enough so there are no jobs, no pensions, no profit sharing, no social security, etc., and we can't pay the property taxes on our homes and vehicles, we're at the mercy of the state of Alabama to do the right thing. Do you trust that? It's a state issue that benefits counties and cities. Our country's citizens back in the day never should have allowed property taxes. At the heart, it's not even constitutional. We should be on our State Rep and Senator to eliminate it, and if necessary, move the equivalent to income or sales tax. 

Did you know that the U.S. Constitution mentions Congress providing coin? Coin = U.S. Mint; Cash = Federal Reserve. The latter is not a government entity. Let that sink in for a while and save your coin while you do :-).

Look, if you cannot live off your land, you should be stocking up on long shelf life and regular shelf life foods. Do it slow, because you know what the stores will do. Contact me if you would like the name of some companies that sell long shelf life foods. Also water, gasoline, and pay off or ahead on mortgages and rent. If there is someone in your extended family that does not have a mortgage, begin a conversation about that being the place the family will go when the economic do-do hits the fan. A generator, various camping supplies, and plenty of ammo for any weapons you may have would be a good idea too. 

I would love to hear from you. Email or meet me at my church if you'd like to talk more about these things. 

Bret Lovitz, aka Pester Brat, is the founder and director of the National Outreach "Fellowship of Concerned Constitutional Patriots" and the local chapter "La-Fayette Meeting Place." He is a member of Calvary Baptist Church in Vernon Alabama. You can follow him on his 2 Facebook accounts (Pester Brat, and Bret Pester Brat Lovitz that includes his weekly Gimme 5 videos most Monday mornings) and his blog at pesterbratdotcom.blogspot.com. His email address is pesterbratdotcom@aol.com.  

West Alabama Gazette 4/12/23

 It's Economical Watson

As of April 6, 2023 the national debt according to usdebtclock.org is over $31 trillion 665 billion. This comes to over $94,600 for each and every American citizen including our children and grandchildren. If you think that it's not fair to count them, it comes to over $246,800 per taxpayer. Where is this going to end? Will it just go away? Is there anything that can be done or is it too late? It's not a pretty picture that will likely end up being devastating. I'm not trying to be just doom and gloom here, but think about it. We are predominately a service oriented country. Many stores and restaurants have already closed. One scenario could involve mass job loss, hunger, and death, if the Lord tarries His return. If not, then probably socialism. "But wait, the rapture of the Church will happen before our country goes through something like that." Well, what Christian wouldn't hope so? But it's very concerning that so many Christians seem to think that if bad things happen to our country it must be rapture time. Let alone that many Christians may be wrong about a pre-tribulational rapture of the Church. I don't take a firm position on the timing of the rapture of the Church, but I haven't found any Scripture clearly supporting the pre-tribulational view. But I digress :-).

Have we not learned through hurricanes, tornados, COVID, and more, that we can't rely on there always being food in the grocery store to buy and put on our tables? There are things we can and must begin doing NOW! Whether it's getting rid of the national deficit and having a balanced budget on the federal as well as state levels (yes, it could be done if elected officials knew that we really do mean business and not just at election time) or become more self sufficient as a state, county, city, town, community, home, and church. Each level should be working towards it. Some of you reading this may be able to live off of the land. But what about the rest of your family, your neighbors, your town, your co-workers? "But It's the government's fault." The constitution starts off with "we the people." We vote them in. Yet the Declaration of Independence says that when the government becomes destructive the people have the right to alter or abolish it. And the constitution says we have the right to redress grievances. The Feds and individual states cannot keep spending more than we take in, and the answer is not raising taxes, but rather cutting spending drastically. Until "we the people" get a grasp about the condition and direction of our country, it's not looking good. Yes trust in the Lord and pray, but we also need to DO! Call State Rep. Tracey Estes and State Sen. Greg Reed about this. They don't have a clue. Questions or comments? Send me an email or meet me at my Church. 

Bret Lovitz, aka Pester Brat, is the founder and director of the National Outreach "Fellowship of Concerned Constitutional Patriots" and the local chapter La-Fayette Meeting Place. He is a member of Calvary Baptist Church of Vernon Alabama and also lives and works in Vernon. You can also follow him on his 2 Facebook accounts (Pester Brat, and Bret Pester Brat Lovitz that includes his weekly Gimme 5 videos on most Monday mornings) and his blog at pesterbratdotcom.blogspot.com. His email address is pesterbratdotcom@aol.com.  

West Alabama Gazette Column 4/5/23

 A Constitutional Contradiction?

Say it ain't so, right? Well, like the Bible, there are no contradictions in the Constitution, only apparent ones. Don't get me wrong, I'm not putting the Constitution on the same level as the Bible. The Bible is the word of God. The Constitution, while perhaps a wise and good document, is still a man made document. A document that at least one founding father or two said will only work for a moral or religious people. Some groups or people cannot support the Constitution because of their beliefs. That being the case, they should not be allowed to be an elected official. Some folks think that Constitution contradicts God's word the Bible. But as originally intended, it does not. 

One of those "apparent" contradictions are the 10th and 14th amendments. The gist of the 10th amendment is that where the U.S. Constitution is silent, the rights belong to the States and people. It's where we get the Jeffersonian principle of State Nullification, and dare I say, the right to secede from the Union (yes, we've been down that road before). The 14th Amendment is also known as the "Supremacy Clause." Some citizens, usually liberals and leftists, believe that any federal laws that are passed override State Constitutions and laws. In other words, if the federal government passed certain so called laws, the 2nd and 10th Amendments might as well be yanked out of the Constitution based on their flawed understanding of the 14th Amendment. So what is the intent of the 14th Amendment? There's not enough room is this article to quote it and the 10th Amendment, so please look it up for yourself. But I submit to you that it is referring to Treaties and laws expanding on the meaning of the U.S. Constitution. 

So, for a real life example, if Congress gave in to pressure and passed the current S.25 Assault Weapons Ban, Alabama and other States would still have the right to pass a law nullifying it. The Federal Gubmint :-) would probably think that the so called Supremacy Clause would override it, but it wouldn't. 

Look, I'm not saying I'm the only one contacting our state elected officials, but they need to hear from a lot more West Alabama citizens. Please get your heads out of the sands of distraction and busy-ness before it's too late. There are things that we can and must do, and it's not just election time every 2 years.

I hope everyone has a blessed Easter, or better, Resurrection Day. If you would like to meet and talk, and you are not committed to a Bible-believing Church, I would love to meet you at Calvary Baptist Church in Vernon on 7th St. SW between Hwy. 18 and Co. Rd. 9 at 10:30 AM Sundays (9:00 AM Easter Sunday) and 6:30 PM Wednesdays. 

Bret Lovitz, aka Pester Brat, is the founder and director of the National Outreach "Fellowship of Concerned Constitutional Patriots" and the local chapter La-Fayette Meeting Place. He's a former pastor and radio & TV talk show host. You can follow him on his 2 Facebook accounts (Pester Brat, and Bret Pester Brat Lovitz that includes his weekly Gimme 5 videos on most Monday mornings), on Rumble (Pester Brat), and his blog at pesterbratdotcom.blogspot.com. His email address is pesterbratdotcom@aol.com.