The Institute on the Constitution’s Michael Peroutka offers a course on the Constitution in his Maryland office and via a series of resources to trainers throughout the nation. The latter approach has spread rapidly, especially in Southwest Ohio.
In their courses, IOTC leaders and trainers portray the current government as out of touch with the Constitution. Given that message, one might think that the IOTC leaders want people to study the Constitution in order to restore the nation to Constitutional roots. However, IOTC founder and League of the South board member Michael Peroutka has expressed doubts about the viability of the current government. He even reassured his secessionist League of the South earlier this year that he did not believe the current regime could be reformed. At their national conference, Peroutka said:
I don’t disagree with Dr. Hill at all, that this regime is beyond reform. I think that’s an obvious fact and I agree with him…I am saying that because I don’t want the League of the South, for one minute to think that I am about reforming the current regime, and that studying the Constitution is about reforming the regime.
Current IOTC instructors might be surprised to learn about the League’s aim to abandon the current republic and start over. I have provided the video of Peroutka’s League of the South comments below with full transcript.
To be sure, the League of the South leadership doesn’t think very highly of the Constitution. On twitter, League president Michael Hill (who Peroutka agrees with about the government) recently expressed his disdain for the Constitution and preference for the Articles of Confederation.
https://twitter.com/MichaelHill51/statuses/390680766482370560
Twitter user Scott Moore than asked Hill what would take the place of the Constitution:
@SRMooreSr Back to the Articles of Confederation.
— Michael Hill (@MichaelHill51) October 18, 2013
So then last night, I asked Hill why his fellow League board member Michael Peroutka taught the Constitution if indeed the League has no confidence in it. His answer:
@wthrockmorton @SRMooreSr The reason to learn it is to show others the regime’s historic contempt for fundamental law.
— Michael Hill (@MichaelHill51) October 22, 2013
According to two League board members, one of which developed the materials, the reason to study the Constitution is to illustrate what they consider to be fundamental principles. The League believes this republic is beyond reform but knowing fundamental law will be important for the survival of an independent white Southland. If I am understanding Hill correctly, perhaps he hopes students will form an impression that the nation has drifted so far from what calls “fundamental law” that secession will seem like a better alternative to reform.
I am sure many IOTC instructors believe they are helping to restore something about the current republic when they teach their classes. Unfortunately, they may not realize what aims they are advancing.
2013 League of the South annual conference:
Here is a transcript of his comments:
We have a basic Constitution course, now again I don’t disagree with Dr. Hill at all, that this regime is beyond reform. I think that’s an obvious fact and I agree with him. However, I do agree that when you secede, or however the destruction and the rubble of this regime takes place and how it plays out, you’re going to need to take a biblical worldview and apply it to civil law and government. That’s what you’re still going to need to do. Whether we’re going to have to have this foundational information in the hearts and minds of the people, or else liberty won’t survive the secession either. You see what I’m saying? So this view, I am saying that because I don’t want the League of the South, for one minute to think that I am about reforming the current regime, and that studying the Constitution is about reforming the regime. I like many of you, and like Patrick Henry, probably have come to the conclusion that we smelled a rat, smelled a rat from the beginning. However, we believe that it is essential to take a biblical view of law and government and then make those applications so we publish actually three courses of instruction.
I’m in the commercial mode now, this is a commercial. We publish a course on the U.S. Constitution. We feel like it would be a great builder for you in your workshops, in your, when Dr. Hill said somebody called and said, ‘nothing’s going on.’ Well this could be going on. This is something you could do. You could be discussing with your neighbors a true American view of law and government, and then discussing how that could be applied. And then you could be reading the Grey Book too as well which is also a great vision for how, for what a civil government should look like in America. This is a 12 week course of study, excuse me, it is 12 lectures, we do it every 12 weeks but you could do it faster or slower. But it is I believe a great party building or organization building tool because it creates the commonality of understanding on which we’re going to march forward, that is to say, there is an American view of law and government and a biblical view that we need to understand. So that’s what our U.S. course is about.
We actually conduct it three ways, we conduct it live in person in Pasadena, MD, Pastor David Whitney, myself and some other instructors give this class. It’s conducted around the country by people who take this kit itself and do it. This is like a turnkey operation here, you can take this and use the student manual, there’s a teacher’s manual, it’s like a home school course on the U.S. Constitution and American history. We rehearse what an American view of law and government looks like, like I’ve just been doing. We talk about the religious belief of the founders, we talk about the biblical beliefs of the founders and the political philosophy of the founders. Then we talk basically about the Constitution in the words of the Constitution itself. In other words, ‘thou shalt know the rules.’ And then we talk about how courts have degradated and moved away, and subverted the Constitution, and we talk about ways we can move back to this biblical understanding.
When Peroutka says American view of law and government, let’s recall who he calls “American.” In an editorial on his website, Peroutka referred to the Confederate troops as the “American forces.”